California gas stoves could soon display a pollutant warning sign
California may require all new gas stoves sold in the state to carry a label warning users about pollutants they could release that have been linked to respiratory illnesses.
The state Assembly on Monday approved a proposal to require the label to be placed on gas stoves or ovens made or sold online after 2024, or sold in a store after 2025. The bill now heads to the state Senate.
Supporters of the legislation say it’s a necessary step to help address childhood asthma and other respiratory problems. Opponents say the legislation is unnecessary and that the state should focus on promoting better ventilation in buildings to improve air quality.
“Although there is mounting evidence about the health risks of gas stoves, most of this evidence is not known to everyone,” said Assemblyman Gil Pellerin, a Democrat who represents part of Santa Cruz County. “This bill will help buyers make more informed decisions about gas stoves and oven appliances.”
The bill was approved largely along party lines and without debate.
The label will warn users that inhaling large concentrations of chemicals, such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and benzene, can “worsen pre-existing respiratory conditions and increase the risk of leukemia and asthma, especially in children.” It will also be noted that ventilation can reduce the risk of exposure to these chemicals.
Gas stoves have been at the center of heated political debates in recent years over climate policy, children’s health and consumer choice. In 2019, Berkeley, California, became the first city in the country to adopt a ban on the use of natural gas in homes and new buildings, but the courts blocked the law based on an appeal from the California Restaurant Association. The city recently halted implementation of its policy after a federal court declined to hear an appeal.
California’s latest proposal was inspired by a similar bill in Illinois that did not pass, said Gene Engstrom, director of the California Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Outside of California, New York State passed a law banning natural gas stoves and ovens in most new buildings starting in 2026. Last year, the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives approved a bill prohibiting the use of federal funds to regulate gas. Stoves as a dangerous product. The bill was not approved by the Senate.
California voters already approved a law in the 1980s that required warning labels to be placed on gas stoves and other products if they exposed people to large amounts of chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm. The designation required under this year’s proposal would go further by mentioning respiratory diseases.
About 40% of American households cook using gas as a heat source, according to the Home Appliance Manufacturers Association, which opposes the California bill.
“Adding another label to gas cooking products does not address public concern about indoor air quality during cooking,” company spokeswoman Jill Nutini said in an email. “All forms of cooking, regardless of the heat source, generate air pollutants, especially at high temperatures.”
People can improve ventilation while cooking by using a kitchen hood and making sure their kitchen hood vents to the outdoors, according to the California Air Resources Board. The agency says people whose kitchens do not have a hood should use a fan or open windows while cooking.
Dr. Lisa Patel, a pediatrician and executive director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, said there is growing evidence that chemicals released from gas stoves can worsen symptoms in people with respiratory problems, such as asthma. There is also concern that it may contribute to asthma cases in children. She compared what has become a culture war over gas stoves to battles in the past to regulate seat belts and tobacco products.
“We’re going through another moment where we feel like we’re an institution in our homes, and suddenly we’re being told it’s bad for our health,” Patel said. “It’s not that it wasn’t bad for our health all the time. It’s just that we didn’t have the data before. We have the data now.”
Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on social media platform X: @sophieadanna
—Sophie Austin, Associated Press/Report for America
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