Researchers Find Benzene and Other Dangers in Gas Piped to California Homes

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/20/climate/gas-stove-benzene-california.html

A new study has found that the gas that is piped into millions of homes in California contains hazardous air pollutants including benzene, which is a chemical linked to cancer.

The study estimated that each year California gas appliances and infrastructure leak the same amount of benzene as is emitted by nearly 60,000 cars, but these leaks are unaccounted for in the state’s records.

In the study, researchers collected 185 samples of unburned natural gas from 159 homes in California served by three gas companies: Pacific Gas and Electric, SoCalGas and San Diego Gas & Electric. The Environmental Protection Agency categorized the samples of air pollutants found in these homes as hazardous, which means they are known to cause cancer and other serious health issues.

The most prevalent of these air pollutants was benzene, which is hard to detect when it leaks because it is colorless and odorless. Benzene can accumulate in a person’s body over time, so even if individual exposure points are low, health risks will still increase with each exposure.

Another study also detected benzene and other dangerous air pollutants in the Boston metropolitan area.

I think this story is highly newsworthy, because it has a high level of human impact. This information would make many people more thoughtful of the gases that could be released in their homes, and more likely to get their homes inspected. This article does bring a sense of alarm to the audience because it links high levels of air pollutants in homes to cancer, which is alarming for many people. I think this article was organized very well. The author used an inverted pyramid structure to capture the audience’s attention at the beginning of the article, and then provided more detail after the major points were written.