We Need to Take Seriously the Pollutants Emitted When Cooking With Gas
Two years ago last week, one of the headlines in my column was, “Evidence Mounts That Gas Stoves Are Harmful to Health.” It cited an article the previous week in the journal Environmental Science and Technology which quoted a study reporting that 12 hazardous pollutants, including benzene, a carcinogen, were detected in the emissions of gas ranges. That study was of 159 homes in 19 California counties.
Last week, The Guardian, a British periodical, published an article with a more damning headline: “Pollutants from gas stoves kill 40,000 Europeans each year, report finds.”
that, “New peer-reviewed research from RMI, the University of Sydney, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, which I co-authored with two epidemiologistsandacolleague,estimated that nearly 13 percent of childhood asthma cases in the United States can be linked to having a gas stove in the home.
According to that article, “The researchers attributed 36,031 early deaths each year to gas cookers in the EU, and a further 3,928 in the UK. They say their estimates are conservative because they only considered the health effects of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and not other gases such as carbon monoxide and benzene.”
Now, that’s a wake-up call!
I did a web search for “dangers of gas stove emissions” and found that multiple other studies had been conducted from late 2022 through to now reaching similar conclusions but without that large a database of impacted human beings.
On Sept. 7, 2022, Harvard Health reported that, “Gas stoves affect air quality inside and outside your home, circulating pollutants that raise risk for asthma and other illnesses.”
On Jan. 19, 2023, Scientific American wrote that, “Scientists have long known that gas stoves emit pollutants that irritate human airways and can cause or exacerbate respiratory problems.”
On Feb. 15, 2023, Brady Seals of the Rocky Mountain Institute announced
On April 7, 2023, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health reported, “A recent study suggests that gas stoves contribute to about 13 percent of childhood asthma cases in the U.S. equivalent to the risk of developing asthma due to exposure to secondhand smoke. NO2 can cause respiratory problems, particularly for those with asthma or other respiratory illnesses, and long-term exposure to NO2 from gas stoves has also been linked to an increased risk of developing heart disease.”
On June 21, 2023, Yale Climate Connections reported that, “Cooking with gas emits dangerous levels of benzene, a carcinogen, into household air.”
On May 3, 2024, Stanford University reported that, “A study of air pollution in U.S. homes reveals how much gasand propane stoves increase exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant linked to childhood asthma.”
This appears to be a problem that disproportionately affects low-income populations for a couple reasons. First, they are more likely to have gas ranges, especially in cities where natural gas is ubiquitous. Second, the problem is exacerbated in smaller kitchens, allowing the emissions to be less dispersed.
Obviously, a large-scale switch from gas ranges to induction or electric ranges is not practical or affordable, especially for low-income populations, but health
This 3-bedroom home at 48 Lang Street in Twin Lakes is at the foot of Independence Pass. It could be your escape from the Front Range rat race! Thanks to high-speed internet, some of the residents have city jobs but work from home. Live here year-round or make it a rental. Or live here part-time and apply to Lake County for a short-term rental permit! Enjoy the quiet mountain life of Twin Lakes Village (population 23). In summer, enjoy the drive over Independence Pass to Aspen. In winter, drive over Fremont Pass to Copper Mountain or Tennessee Pass to Ski Cooper or Vail. Escape the I Closer to home, enjoy hiking the Colorado Trail, which passes through town. This home was built in 2000 with all the modern conveniences, yet you're in a historic and charming mountain town. If you’ve been hankering for a slower lifestyle, this mountain home may be your escape. Visit www.TwinLakesHome.info to take a narrated video walk-through of this home and see lots of photos, then call me at 303-525-1851 to request a showing.
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experts have some advice on what to do in the meantime. First of all, ventilate your kitchen when using a gas stove. If you have a vent fan above your range, use it, but only if it vents to the outside. Many vent fans, such as those built into over-the-stove microwave ovens, merely filter the air of particles, blowing it back into the kitchen. To see if your vent fan ventilates to the outside, open the cabinet above it, so see if there’s a flue.
A good short-term solution, if you have $50-100 to spend, would be to purchase a plug-in induction cooktop, as Rita and I have done. Search for “induction burners” and you’ll find many starting as low as $49.99. Because induction is so efficient, most induction burners plug into a standard countertop kitchen outlet.
NOTE: Induction burners only work with ferrous pots and pans, such as cast iron, enameled cast iron and certain stainless steel pots and pans. If a magnet sticks to the pan, it can be used on an induction burner.
Rita and I like to buy live lobsters from
Seafood Landing in northwest Denver and boil them, but it takes forever to heat a pot of water large enough to submerge four 1½-lb. lobsters, so next time we’re going to use our induction burner, because it will heat that much water in less than half the time. (I look forward to timing it!) That’s the thing about induction cooking it’s faster and uses less electricity than a standard electric burner.
NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy Under Attack
“Clear Cooperation” is a policy introduced by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in November 2019 to reduce the use of “pocket listings” by brokers who don’t want to share their high commissions with a buyer’s agent.
Let’s say that a broker lists a home for 6%, to use a round number. (The average has long been between 5% and 5.5%.) The listing contract had a place to designate the percentage of that 6% which the listing broker would share with the broker who produced the buyer. For a $1,000,000 listing, that would be, for example, $30,000 commission to each agent.
You can understand why the listing agent would want to promote that listing off the MLS and hopefully keep the full $60,000. Most Realtors, like myself, would consider that unethical on the face of it but also believe it’s not in the seller’s best interest. The seller wants as many buyers as possible to know about his or her listing so that he/she sells for the highest price.
From a greedy listing broker’s perspec-
tive, getting 6% of $1,000,000 is a whole lot better than only 3% of a higher price.
Enter the Clear Cooperation policy, which pissed off a lot of brokers, including those who aren’t members of NAR, because all MLSs were ordered to enforce it.
CCP, as the policy is called, requires that a listing be entered on the MLS within one business day of it being publicized in any way, whether it be a sign in the ground, a Facebook post, mass email or whatever. And it could only be “Coming Soon” as long as no showings were granted, including by the listing agent, and for a max of 7 days.
The attacks on CCP, mostly by large brokerages, have surged recently, but Zillow’s Susan Daimler, like myself, defends the policyasbeingintheconsumer’s best interest. In fact, she wants to see the policy strengthened by eliminating the “office exclusive” loophole. That loophole discriminates against small brokerages and independent brokers by allowing big brokerages to display MLS listings only to agents within the brokerage. That loophole should be abolished.
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Bernice I. Timmerman
September 20, 1932 - October 25, 2024
Bernice Irene Pankow was born to Fred J. Pankow and Anna Hubrig Pankow in Hankinson, North Dakota, on September 20, 1932. She died and went to be with Jesus on October 25, 2024, at the age of 92. Bernice is survived by the three beloved children with whom the Lord blessed them: Karla Timmerman Heerssen (Harvey), Michael Timmerman (Shereen), and Amy Timmerman Heasty (Tom, deceased); also six beautiful grandchildren: Katherine Yonkers (James), Anna Beyersdorf, Philip Beyersdorf (Nicole), Cori Woltmann (Luke), Matthew Timmerman (Ashley), and Allyson Timmerman; and nine precious great-grandchildren: Jamie Yonkers; Destin, Elsie, and Will Woltmann; Amelia and Henry Timmerman; Erin and Aiden Schellpeper, and Jeremia Beyersdorf. Bernie was predeceased by her parents, her ten brothers and sisters (Alma, Adela, Linda, Bernard, Conrad, Gertrude, Fred, Ruth, Walter, and Herbert); infant granddaughter, Sarah Beyersdorf; and son-in-law, Tom Heasty. She also leaves numerous nieces and nephews, countless friends and loved ones.
Colorado; and San Francisco and Montebello, California, where Willard was a Lutheran teacher and principal. ey moved back to Brighton, Colorado, in 1977, where they lived in their gracious house on South 11th Avenue until it was necessary for both to move into assisted living in the winter of 2022.
Bernice taught for about 25 years in Lutheran schools, in elementary and early childhood classrooms: Bethlehem, Sylvan Grove, Kansas; Emmaus, Denver; St. John’s, Montebello, California; and Zion, Brighton, Colorado. She also worked at the 47J School District in Henderson, near Brighton. While at Zion, she completed her B.S. in Education through Concordia, Seward. She was an accomplished housekeeper, decorator, cook, hostess, and seamstress. She loved to play the piano and organ and sing, especially hymns.
Bernice grew up on the family farm, graduated from Hankinson High School, and attended college rst in Valley City, North Dakota, then at Concordia Teachers College in Seward, Nebraska, where she earned her Lutheran Teachers Diploma. It was at Concordia that Bernice met Willard Timmerman, a fellow education student from Brighton, Colorado. By the Lord’s leading, they fell in love and were married on June 28, 1954. e Timmerman family lived in Denver,
Bernice was rst a baptized and forgiven child of God, redeemed by the life, death, and resurrection of her Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus was the center of her life as a wife, mother, teacher, friend, and worker in His Church. She leaves a legacy of faith, hospitality, generosity, Christian example, and high standards.
e family wishes to extend warm thanks to all those who were caregivers of Will and Bernie in the past 2 years: the sta s of Helping Hands, Northglenn Heights, Cherelynn Healthcare Center, Bonaventure Senior Living, e Center at Northridge, and St. Anthony’s North. Memorials may go to Zion Lutheran School or Concordia University Nebraska.
TIMMERMAN
CROWSSUPDRO ELZZ
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