To the Journal editor:

For all of us freaking out about the government coming to haul away our gas stoves, let’s stop a moment, let our pulse return to normal and ask why this is happening

Why would this problem suddenly arise after we have been happily cooking with gas all these long years? The answer is this: most of us grew up in houses where we would raise and lower the leaky old windows with the heavy weights on each side, go outside in the spring to remove the heavy storm windows and install the screens for the summer. Then, in the fall, it would be time to get out the ladder and reverse the process.

Back then, our houses were not so well insulated and our doors and windows were not as tightly sealed. Thus, we “enjoyed” a healthy natural air exchange, even in the winter. Today, however, our homes are better insulated, our doors are tightly sealed, and our windows have multi-pane special glass.

This results is houses so tightly sealed that they require the addition of special air exchange devices. And this is why levels of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter are a concern. Certainly, new homes will be designed with effective air-exchange systems and many will likely have the newer induction stoves and ovens.

So those of us who want to keep using our gas stoves need to consider the risks and try to discover how we might make our home environment safer.

It is time to put on our thinking caps to find ways to safely continue cooking with gas.