"Gather the flame, save gas", "The sawtooth is anti-slip, the stir-fry does not slip the pan", "The enamel process, rust resistance and corrosion resistance" ......Seeing these ads, many people placed an order to buy this "kitchen artifact".
The reporter's investigation found that on some e-commerce platforms, some stores sold gas energy rings at low prices, and sales were hot. Although the relevant departments have long publicized that the energy ring has no energy-saving effect and has major safety hazards, due to a large number of false publicity and marketing promotions, safety accidents caused by consumers installing energy rings have occurred repeatedly.
Frequent poisoning incidents have been issued by various departments in various places.
At the beginning of July this year, the Aerospace City Community Neighborhood Committee of Xibeiwang Town, Haidian District, Beijing issued a safety reminder on WeChat*** saying that there was an accident in the town that caused carbon monoxide poisoning caused by the use of gas stove shaped rings (windshields), resulting in the death of two people, and asked residents to immediately stop using the shaped rings.
In recent years, carbon monoxide poisoning or death due to the use of shaped rings has occurred repeatedly in many places across the country. In 2022, there will be a number of carbon monoxide poisoning incidents caused by residents installing energy rings in Yongle East District, Yanbao Jingyuan Jiayuan and other communities in Shijingshan District, BeijingIn 2021, a resident of Tangshan Street, Rixin Street, Xigang District, Dalian City, suffered carbon monoxide poisoning due to the use of a shaped energy ringIn 2021, there were four ...... cases of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by the use of shaped rings in Kundulun District, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia
Dalian China Resources and other gas companies issued announcements saying that the use of the energy ring can not play an energy-saving effect - the gas will not be fully burned due to the shielding of the energy ring, and the heat generated by incomplete combustion is only 60% of that when it is completely burned, so it will cause a lot of gas waste in the process of use. If used incorrectly, carbon monoxide poisoning can also occur due to insufficient gas combustion.
In an experiment, Lan Tao, a senior engineer at the Beijing Institute of Public Utilities Sciences, visually demonstrated the potential safety hazards of the energy ring: when the stove is installed with the energy ring to work for a period of time, the detector emits a sharp alarm sound, and the carbon monoxide concentration reaches the level of harm to the human body.
These rings can block the oxygen intake channel during use, causing inadequate combustion of natural gas and producing large amounts of carbon monoxide. Lan Tao said.
Some local market supervision departments and emergency management departments have repeatedly issued safety tips, or explicitly prohibited the use of energy rings.
In 2022, the Beijing Municipal Bureau for Market Regulation issued the "Product Safety Tips on Fireproof Devices for Gas Stoves", which clearly reminds consumers that "consumers should not install devices or accessories other than factory products that may affect the performance of gas appliances without permission".
The Beijing Tongzhou District Emergency Management Bureau, the Shijingshan District Emergency Management Bureau, the Haidian District Property Management Association and other institutions also reminded the public that "installing gas stoves without permission will cause great safety hazards". Yulin in Shaanxi, Urumqi in Xinjiang, Jiamusi in Heilongjiang and other places have explicitly banned the use of energy rings.
The online sales business is booming, and the product quality is worrying.
The reporter interviewed and found that although the relevant departments have long publicized the danger of the product, most of the interviewed community residents said that they usually pay less attention to the reports of such safety accidents, and they do not see safety tips in places such as community bulletin boards every day, and do not know much about its danger. On the contrary, due to the long-term promotion of some businesses to improve cooking efficiency and save gas, the products are favored by many consumers.
The reporter searched on a number of domestic e-commerce platforms and found that there are not a few stores that currently sell energy rings through the Internet. For example, on a well-known domestic e-commerce platform, search for the keyword "gas stove windproof cover energy-saving ring", the platform shows that there are more than 5,000 products, the most expensive is about 200 yuan, and the cheapest is only 3 to 4 yuan.
Some e-commerce platform merchants attract buyers with low-price offers such as "buy one get one free", and sales data shows that many stores have sold more than 100,000 pieces. Among them, the best-selling one has a monthly sales volume of 20,000, more than 20,000 user reviews, and a price of 13$9.
The reporter found that some businesses claimed that the energy ring "gathers fire and saves energy, does not press the fire and does not extinguish the fire", "applies to various styles of pots, is stable and non-slip", "after anti-rust and anti-corrosion treatment, durable and odorless", and guarantees that there are no potential safety hazards, and quality problems can be returned at any time.
However, user evaluations show that some consumers find that the product quality is poor after buying the energy ring, and some use iron sheets to pass off as stainless steel;Some products emit peculiar smells after use, and the range hood indicates that there is a gas leakSome customer service attitudes are perfunctory, and products with quality problems will not be returned at all. When the reporter asked the merchant about the product quality certificate, they were all responded that "the product quality inspection report cannot be provided".
This is a gathering ring that the reporter bought from the Internet. Photo by reporter Wu Wenxu.
The reporter placed an order to buy one for a price of 139 yuan of energy ring. The "precautions" on the product manual only mentions that "it is strictly forbidden to use it directly on the glass cooktop", which not only does not mention the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by insufficient combustion of gas, but claims that "this product can fully burn gas and reduce the carbon emission of toxic gas monoxide by 50%-80%".
According to Tianyancha, the manufacturer is located in Yongkang City, Zhejiang Province, and is registered as an individual industrial and commercial householdChecking the information of the product certificate on the official website of the Standardization Administration of the People's Republic of China found that the product was not only not registered, but was suspected of stealing the information of other companies.
Strengthen the investigation of potential safety hazards and do a good job in safety education for residents.
**Article 28 of the promulgated Regulations on the Administration of Urban Gas stipulates that gas users shall not install, modify or dismantle indoor gas facilities and gas metering devices without authorization. The Code for Gas Engineering Projects (GB 55009-2021) requires that household users should not install devices or accessories other than factory products that may affect the performance of gas appliances without permission.
The relevant person in charge of the Certification and Supervision Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation said that the energy ring does not belong to the scope of compulsory product certification. According to expert feedback, the ring may affect the air flow around the flame of the gas cooker burner, adversely affecting the normal combustion conditions, thus causing problems such as excessive carbon monoxide. It is recommended that users do not install a shaped ring on the original gas cooker without authorization.
Wang Hao, chief of the product section of the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Haidian District, Beijing, said that at present, the state and the industry have not formulated standards or specifications for fire-proof and windproof device products such as energy gathering rings. Gathering rings and other fireproof windproof devices sold separately in the market are "products that are improperly used, easily cause damage to the product itself or may endanger personal and property safety" as stipulated in the Product Quality Law, and shall be marked with Chinese warning instructions such as precautions for safe use on the product or its packaging in accordance with the law.
The relevant responsible person of Beijing fire protection introduced that it is necessary to actively guide the masses to purchase qualified gas products produced by regular manufacturers and develop good gas use Xi in daily life. For example, use gas in well-ventilated places and do not place flammable materials near gas facilities;Regularly inspect the gas facilities for gas leakage, and the service life of the gas cooker shall not exceed 8 years;Do not repair gas facilities without permission, and contact a professional for repair and replacement.
In addition, it is also necessary to further do a good job in safety education for residents. Experts suggest that residents' awareness of safe gas use should be strengthened through offline distribution of safety manuals and door-to-door publicityMake full use of the new "Internet +" publicity model, make the knowledge of safe gas use into a simple and easy-to-understand short, and rely on a variety of online channels such as community household groups, circle of friends, and short platforms to release it, so as to expand the publicity coverage.
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