(Headline USA) Social media ripped apart Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., this week after she claimed gas stoves are linked to brain damage.
Responding to a report that the Biden administration is considering banning the future sale of gas stoves due to several studies that found they could lead to negative health effects, Ocasio-Cortez seemed to express her support for the move.
“Did you know that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance,” she wrote on Twitter.
Did you know that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance https://t.co/1bjmHqnHVa
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 11, 2023
Critics blasted Ocasio-Cortez, with many pointing out that she herself owns and uses a gas stove.
You have made videos of yourself cooking on a gas stove pic.twitter.com/TWLVgNp4dm
— PoliMath (@politicalmath) January 11, 2023
However, Ocasio-Cortez continued to double down, urging people to look into assistance programs that could help them make the switch from gas to electric.
“The way we are handling it in NYC isn’t to force people to switch what they already have. Folks can keep their appliances, and new buildings in NYC will have gas-free stoves. As for federally, any proposal from the CPSC would go through a quite lengthy review and input process,” she wrote.
Bloomberg reported this week that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is mulling an outright ban on the future sales of gas stoves following studies that showed emissions from the appliances can cause health and respiratory problems.
“This is a hidden hazard,” CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. told the outlet. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”
The studies cited by the CPSC linked gas stoves to respiratory illness, cardiovascular problems, cancer and other health conditions.
The news faced immediate backlash, including from restaurant owners who warned banning gas stoves would destroy the food industry.
“So let me explain it to you,” Stratis Morfogen told Fox News. “We lose 40% productivity by using electric,” he said.
