Class Action Says Whirlpool Corporation Concealed Gas Stove Pollutant Emissions Risk

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Whirlpool Corporation has concealed from consumers that its gas stoves, ranges and ovens emit hazardous air pollutants linked to adverse health conditions, including an increased risk of asthma in children.

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The 34-page lawsuit says that although the manufacturer was well aware of the appliances’ alleged “defect,” it failed to warn consumers on product packaging and in marketing materials and instruction manuals that the products release dangerous levels of air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, that are harmful to human health.

Per the suit, the defendant sells gas stoves and other appliances for home use under brand names such as Whirlpool, Maytag, JennAir, Amana and KitchenAid. As the case tells it, it is no secret that gas stoves emit pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, which have been associated with serious health conditions and may worsen respiratory diseases like asthma, particularly in children. In fact, research has linked long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide—which can be hazardous at even low levels—to cardiovascular problems, diabetes, cancer, reduced cognitive development in children and numerous other adverse conditions, the complaint relays.

Households with gas stoves have up to 400 percent higher levels of nitrogen dioxide than homes with electric stoves, the filing explains, adding that, as a result, children in households with gas stoves are 42 percent more likely to have asthma.

“[Whirlpool Corporation’s] continued sale of the products, without providing warnings about the emissions of harmful pollutants, is not an accident,” the lawsuit contends. “This is because [the defendant] has known of the risk of harmful emissions for years, if not decades.”

Further, despite readily available alternatives, the manufacturer has not elected to use a safer product design that would reduce the emission of harmful air pollutants, the suit charges.

The plaintiff, a California resident, purchased a KitchenAid model KSGG700ESS gas stove in September 2022, the case says. Because the woman saw no warnings about the risk of air pollutants on the product’s packaging, she believed that the appliance posed no danger to her health, the complaint claims. Per the filing, the plaintiff would not have bought the gas stove if she had known it emitted hazardous pollutants such as nitrogen oxides.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who purchased a Whirlpool Corporation gas stove, range or oven during the applicable statutes of limitations period.

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