A welcome alternative to the risks of natural gas
Lisa Zwirn’s “A very hot topic: Everything you need to know about induction cooktops” (Wednesday Food, Sept. 28) was a superb article, providing an informative, clear, and interesting overview of induction cooking and cooktops, an alternative to natural gas. I would like to add one additional point about the status of induction cooking and cooktops today.
I listened to a presentation recently by Dr. Michael Martin of the University of California, San Francisco and the group Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization that focuses on climate change and the risks of nuclear war, for which it shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. (The presentation was provided by Mothers Out Front.) I point out his credentials to give weight to one of the points he made. He said that today’s low-level response to the scientifically recognized risk of air pollution from gas appliances is similar to that of the lag in recognition 50 years ago to the important scientific findings about passive smoking and its harmful effects on our health. Let us hope we don’t have to wait so long this time to accept an inconvenient truth.
Sloan Sable
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Brookline
We can’t end our dependence on fossil fuels fast enough
Lisa Zwirn touched on many of the benefits of using induction cooking as opposed to fossil fuels. I want to add one of the most important benefits: health and safety.
Studies have examined the chemical composition of gas released during cooking on a kitchen stove. Researchers have found 296 chemical compounds, including 21 federally designated hazardous air pollutants. These pollutants have been linked to asthma and other respiratory problems. In addition, gas leaks from stoves and pollutes even when you are not cooking.
We must act now to ensure a sustainable future for our children and grandchildren by ending our dependence on fossil fuels. A shift to induction cooktops would help accomplish that and would promote indoor safety and health benefits in the process.
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Barbara DiVitto
Newton
For pacemaker wearers, an important caveat
Lisa Zwirn’s article was well written and informative. However, perhaps the most important caveat was omitted. Anyone with a pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator must stay at least 2 feet away from induction stove tops when they are turned on. Items with motors or magnets that make electromagnetic fields can interfere with these devices.
Patricia Williamson
Sharon
