DC, Maryland Attorneys General among officials calling for response to health concerns of gas stoves

WASHINGTON — Eleven Attorneys General, including Maryland and D.C., are calling on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to address public health and safety dangers surrounding gas stoves in homes. 

D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb led the effort Monday, demanding the agency responsible for regulating the safety of U.S. consumer products respond to concerns that gas stoves negatively impact children as well as underserved and lower-income communities.

“District residents are entitled to carry out everyday tasks like cooking without risk to their health and well-being,” said Schwalb. “Gas stoves emit air pollutants that put people – particularly children – at risk of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Along with other State AGs, I urge the CPSC to develop uniform performance and ventilation standards for gas stoves and to increase consumer awareness about the health risks these appliances pose.”

More than 3,000 individuals, 205 health professionals, and 139 organizations have submitted comments expressing concern over gas stove pollution in response to the CPSC’s request for information (RFI) about chronic hazards associated with gas ranges. 

A recent peer-reviewed study found that nearly 13% of childhood asthma in the U.S. can be attributed to gas stove pollution. 

Gas stoves are used in about 40% of homes in the United States. They emit air pollutants like carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter that have been linked to respiratory illness, cardiovascular problems, cancer, and other health conditions at levels the EPA and World Health Organization have said are unsafe. 

Lower-income homes are at a higher risk of exposure to gas stove pollution due to the smaller sizes of the units, more people living within the homes, old and unmaintained appliances, inadequate ventilation, home-heating via the gas stove, and lack of resources to upgrade to a new appliance. 

Children living within lower-income D.C. neighborhoods with poor housing conditions have both higher rates of asthma and asthma hospitalization rates than children in higher-income areas. 

The group of Attorneys General is urging the CPSC to develop uniform performance standards for gas stoves, mandating ventilation standards the ensure an effective reduction of indoor pollutants, including an automatic ventilation mechanism for range hoods that vent to the outdoors. Additionally, officials want the CPSC to work to increase consumer awareness of the health hazards associated with gas stoves so consumers may protect themselves. 

Attorney General Schwalb was joined by the Attorneys General of Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and the City of New York.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Gas used for cooking, clothes drying, and for heating accounts for 23% of the city’s greenhouse gas emission, by the city’s own count.