The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission voted Wednesday to seek public input on the dangers of gas stoves, opening a path for regulatory action, even as the head of the commission reiterated the commission has no plans to ban the household appliances.

Members of the four-person CPSC voted 3-1 on Wednesday to advance a Request for Information (RFI) on gas stoves, seeking public input on chronic hazards and proposed solutions to those hazards.

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Though the request for public input does not trigger any regulation or ban on gas stoves, it could be a first step for the agency toward implementing certain safety standards or other rules governing their use.

CPSC Chairman Alexander Hoehn-Saric said Wednesday that the request for information — which had for months been listed on the commission's calendar with a deadline of March 1, 2023 — does "not constitute or propose any regulatory action or ban."

"The chronic hazards that can arise from toxic emissions should be studied and that is what we are doing with this RFI," he said. "No regulatory action is planned, and any such action would require a vote by the full commission, which has not expressed support for any regulation."

CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. sparked political frenzy in January when he suggested to Bloomberg that "any option is on the table" to regulate gas stoves, which he described as a "hidden hazard."

House Republicans vowed to take action to block any proposed federal regulations in the aftermath of his remarks, and the backlash grew so fierce in the days after that Hoehn-Saric was forced to put out a statement.

"I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so," Hoehn-Saric said in a statement, though he said the commission is "looking for ways to reduce related indoor air quality hazards."

Gas stoves are used in roughly 40% of U.S. homes and are favored by many cooks. But they have been found to emit air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other particulate matter at levels deemed unsafe by the Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization.

Hoehn-Saric said Wednesday that the RFI is "part of our product safety mission - learning about hazards and working to make products safer."

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A federal ban on gas stoves would be unlikely even as restrictions have become adopted widely at the state and local levels.

Nearly 100 cities and counties in the United States, mostly in blue areas, have already adopted policies restricting their use or to begin phasing them out in new construction. And at least 20 states have also introduced or advanced similar efforts.