OAN Roy Francis
UPDATED 12:29 PM PT – Tuesday, January 10, 2023
The Biden administration is currently considering a nationwide ban on gas stoves.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is deliberating the action after research showed that emissions from the appliances can lead to health and respiratory issues.
“This is a hidden hazard,” CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. said. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”
Groups including the American Chemical Society and New York University Law School’s Institute for Policy Integrity found that gas stoves emit pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide and fine matter.
The Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization have deemed that the level at which these pollutants are emitted is unsafe.
Respiratory illness, cardiovascular problems, cancer and other illnesses have also been allegedly attributed to gas stoves.
According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, more than 12% of childhood asthma can be linked to the appliances as well.
Brady Seals, a manager in the carbon-free buildings program at the nonprofit clean energy group RMI and a co-author of the study, made a statement.
“There is about 50 years of health studies showing that gas stoves are bad for our health, and the strongest evidence is on children and children’s asthma,” Seals said. “By having a gas connection, we are polluting the insides of our homes.”
Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Representative Don Beyer (D-Va.) have also voiced their support for the agency to take action against the appliances. In a letter, they wrote that gas stoves are a “cumulative burden” on minority and low-income households.
These reports have received criticism and pushback from associations that represent gas stove makers, as well as the public.
Jill Notini, vice president with the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, noted the inefficiency of the ban.
“Ventilation is really where this discussion should be, rather than banning one particular type of technology,” Notini said. “Banning one type of a cooking appliance is not going to address the concerns about overall indoor air quality. We may need some behavior change, we may need [people] to turn on their hoods when cooking.”
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commissioner, the ban could take the form of a suspension of imports, or a ban on the local manufacturing of gas stoves.
The CPSC, which has a staff of roughly 500, plans to open public comment on hazards posed by gas stoves later this winter.
Be the first to comment