The Biden administration may move to ban the use of gas stoves on the grounds of new research suggesting they may be related to health problems such as asthma.
The research, co-authored by officials from a clean energy nonprofit that also participate in a carbon-free buildings promotion program, suggested that more than 12 percent of asthma cases in children could be attributed to the use of gas stoves.
According to a Bloomberg report on the news, some 40 percent of American households use gas stoves but the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission may change that.
"This is a hidden hazard. Any option is on the table. Products that can't be made safe can be banned," one of the members of the commission, Richard Trumka Jr., told Bloomberg.
The report also cites information from the Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organisation, which says that gas stoves emit nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and fine particulate matter, which makes them unsafe.
A country-wide ban would follow similar bans set by several cities in the United States, including New York, Seattle and San Francisco. Bans in these cities cover things like gas furnaces and gas heaters, and California's authorities are now moving to ban all gas-fired water heaters in the state.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commissioner interviewed by Bloomberg, the ban on gas stoves could take the form of a suspension of imports of such appliances or a ban on their local manufacture.
Congressmen, meanwhile, have suggested the addition of warning labels, range hoods, and the introduction of higher performance standards, Bloomberg noted in its report.
People willing to switch from gas to electric stoves could take advantage of funding opportunities in the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes several hundred billion in spending on the transition from fossil fuels to clean electricity.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry. More