Federal Commission Considers Ban on Gas Stoves

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is considering a ban on gas stoves, citing indoor air pollutants emitted by gas-burning stoves as a threat to residents of the estimated 40% of US homes who use these appliances.

“This is a hidden hazard. Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned,” CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka said, in a statement, indicating that the agency plans to take action to address the problem.

[After criticism on Twitter from Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL), who called Trumka "an unelected bureaucrat," the CPSC chief clarified his statement on Tuesday afternoon and said he's not planning to come to your house and confiscate your stove; the proposed ban would apply to the sale or installation of new gas stoves.]

Gas-burning appliances already are being phased out in cities, including New York and Boston, that have enacted tough new carbon-reduction laws covering buildings, which generate an estimated 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Effective this year, NYC is phasing in a law prohibiting new residential developments from hooking up gas lines.

Natural gas-powered stoves emit air pollutants including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter at levels the EPA and World Health Organization have said are unsafe and linked to respiratory illness, cardiovascular problems, cancer, and other health conditions, according to a report from the American Chemical Society.

Peer-reviewed research published last month in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that more than 12% of current childhood asthma cases in the US can be attributed to gas stoves in homes.

The CPSC, based in Bethesda, is planning to open public comment next month on hazards posed by gas stoves, Trumka said. The commissioner indicted that a preliminary step to banning the manufacture or import of gas stoves could include setting standards on emissions from appliances.

The New York City Council voted in 2021 to ban natural gas hookups in new buildings smaller than seven stories by the end of this year, with larger buildings to follow. The California Air Resources Board unanimously voted in September to ban the sale of natural gas-fired furnaces and water heaters by 2030.

The Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress last year includes rebates of up to $840 for the purchase of new electric ranges as part of $4.5 billion in funding to help low- and moderate-income households electrify their homes.

Predictably, appliance makers and natural gas distributors are lining up against a potential ban on gas stoves.

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers issued a statement this week claiming that proper ventilation is the solution to natural gas emissions in stoves, suggesting that cooking produces emissions and harmful byproducts no matter what kind of stove is used.

The American Gas Association said in statement that neither the EPA nor the CPSC have presented any documented risks from gas stoves.

“The [CPSC] and EPA do not present gas ranges as a significant contributor to adverse air quality or health hazard in their technical or public information literature, guidance, or requirements,” said Karen Harbert, the gas association president, in a statement.

“The most practical, realistic way to achieve a sustainable future where energy is clean, as well as safe, reliable and affordable, is to ensure it includes natural gas and the infrastructure that transports it,” Harbert said.

So, according to the gas association, we can’t have a sustainable, clean-energy future without burning methane, a greenhouse gas that is 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and, according to the appliance association, if your kids are coughing it’s because you burned their lunch.

Which reminds us of another industry that also pooh-poohed harmful emissions from a widely used product: in a full-page magazine ad, circa 1954—featuring Ronald Reagan, then a B-movie star, with a Chesterfield cigarette dangling from his lips—the tobacco company assured readers that a majority of doctors recommended the filter-tipped product because it was “healthier.”

To paraphrase President Reagan, “well, there you go again.”