WASHINGTON, DC — The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, the trade association for the home appliance industry, has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Colorado to stop Colorado’s newly-enacted law mandating a warning label on gas stoves.
AHAM’s lawsuit, according to the Washington, DC-based trade association, seeks an emergency injunction to prevent the implementation of Colorado House Bill 25-1161, a law that “violates the First Amendment by singling out gas stoves, compelling retailers and manufacturers to warn consumers of alleged ‘health risks’ and ‘health impacts’ that have not been proven.”
“The overwhelming majority of available health research shows there is no association between gas stoves and adverse health outcomes, and – most critically – when evaluated collectively, fails to demonstrate causation,” AHAM said. “Indeed, the vast majority of studies conclude that the potential health risks of cooking with gas are no different than cooking with electricity.
“Because the alleged health risks from using gas stoves are not supported by scientific consensus, the law violates the First Amendment’s protection against compelled speech.”
Absent the injunction AHAM seeks in its lawsuit, Colorado’s new law “would force retailers and manufacturers to stigmatize their own products by presenting consumers with biased and misleading information promoting only a minority scientific position,” AHAM said. “If allowed to stand, Colorado’s law would set a dangerous precedent for compelled speech in consumer labeling, opening the door to other product labeling requirements that are not supported by scientific consensus and sowing further consumer confusion.”
According to AHAM, no study has found that gas stoves cause respiratory health issues, “and imposing a mandatory warning based on unsettled science misleads consumers, stigmatizes safe products, and undermines the principles of free speech and fair commerce.”
AHAM remains committed to providing consumers with accurate, unbiased, science-based information and education to enhance the safe and proper use of home appliances, the association added. “Colorado’s new labeling requirement is a misguided effort to address unproven hazards. Requiring retailers and manufacturers to present inaccurate and incomplete information is likely to lead to consumer confusion, questions and unintended consequences.”