The Biden administration is planning a nationwide ban on gas stoves, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The report cited the dangerous pollutants released by gas stoves as the reason behind the ban.
Biden administration considers nationwide ban on gas stoves amid health fears
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is contemplating taking action after notable studies revealed that device emissions can affect health and breathing issues.
“This is a hidden hazard,” CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. told the paper. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”
Reports by groups including the American Chemical Society and New York University Law School’s Institute for Policy Integrity found gas stoves — which are used in about 40% of US homes while the remainder use various forms of electric cookers — emit pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine matter at levels deemed unsafe by the Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization.
The studies also linked gas stoves to respiratory illness, cardiovascular problems, cancer and other health conditions.
According to reports from organizations such as the American Chemical Society and New York University Law School’s Institute for Policy Integrity, gas stoves produce pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and fine matter at unsafe levels. These are deemed hazardous by the Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization.
Asthma in children can be attributed to gas stoves
Gas stoves were also associated with respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular problems, cancer, as well as other health problems in the studies.
The devices are responsible for more than 12% of childhood asthma cases, according to a report published last month in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
“There are 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,” Brady Seals, a manager in the carbon-free buildings program at the nonprofit clean energy group RMI and a co-author of the study, informed Bloomberg. “By having a gas connection, we are polluting the insides of our homes.”
Short of barring the manufacture or importation of gas stoves, the CPSC could also impose emissions standards, Trumka added.
