In 2013, outdoor air pollution and particulate matter were classified as carcinogenic by WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). 6% are from lung cancer: approximately 11% of lung cancer deaths in adults are attributable to exposure to carcinogens from household air pollution caused by using kerosene or solid fuels like wood, charcoal or coal for household energy needs. Exposure is particularly high among women and children, who spend the most time near the domestic hearth. Gathering fuel increases the risk of musculoskeletal injuries and consumes considerable time for women and children – limiting education and other productive activities. In less secure environments, women and children are at risk of injury and violence while gathering fuel. Reliance on polluting fuels and technologies also require significant time for cooking on an inefficient device, and gathering and preparing fuel. Women and children disproportionately bear the greatest health burden from polluting fuels and technologies in homes as they typically labour over household chores such as cooking and collecting firewood and spend more time exposed to harmful smoke from polluting stoves and fuels. The time spent using and preparing fuel for inefficient, polluting devices constrains other opportunities for health and development, like studying, leisure time, or productive activities.

“Air pollution is a threat to health in all countries, but it hits people in low- and middle-income countries the hardest,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Household air pollution is generated by the use of inefficient and polluting fuels and technologies in and around the home that contains a range of health-damaging pollutants, including small particles that penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Promptly replacing the filter lowers the cost of heating and cooling your home and also helps people control allergies and asthma. In light of the widespread use of polluting fuels and stoves for cooking, WHO issued a set of normative guidance, the Guidelines for indoor air quality: household fuel combustion, which offer practical evidence-based guidance on what fuels and technologies used in the home can be considered clean, including recommendations discouraging use of kerosene and recommending against use of unprocessed coal; specifying the performance of fuels and technologies (in the form of emission rate targets) needed to protect health; and emphasizing the importance of addressing all household energy uses, particularly cooking, space heating and lighting to ensure benefits for health and the environment. Many of the fuels and technologies used by households for cooking, heating and lighting present safety risks.

The lack of access to electricity for over 750 million (1) people forces households to rely on polluting devices and fuels, such as kerosene lamps for lighting, thus making them exposed to very high levels of fine particulate matter. Without strong policy action, 1.8 billion people are estimated to still lack access to clean fuels and technologies in 2030 (1). There is a particularly critical need for action in sub-Saharan Africa, where population growth has outpaced access to clean cooking, and 923 million people lacked access in 2022. Strategies to increase the adoption of clean household energy include policies that provide financial support to purchase cleaner technologies and fuels, improved ventilation or housing design, and communication campaigns to encourage clean energy use. WHO defines fuels and technologies that are clean for health at the point of use as solar, electricity, biogas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas, alcohol fuels, as well as biomass stoves that meet the emission targets in the WHO Guidelines. 2. Puthumana JS, Ngaage LM, Borrelli MR, Rada EM, Caffrey J, Rasko Y: Risk factors for cooking-related burn injuries in children, WHO Global Burn Registry.

In children, this could include reduced lung growth and function, respiratory infections and aggravated asthma. Clean air should be a fundamental human right and a necessary condition for healthy and productive societies. This means it is not necessary to ensure that the flight is full or empty before starting. Baking powder and baking soda are both leaveners, which means they create the air needed for your baked goods to rise. 21% are due to lower respiratory infection: exposure to household air pollution almost doubles the risk for childhood LRI and is responsible for 44% of all pneumonia deaths in children less than 5 years old. Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change. Two of the four PAF Sabres were shot down and one damaged by the IAF’s Folland Gnats. On August 20 and 21, 2015, after four rockets hit the Golan Heights and Upper Galilee, Israel launched airstrikes in Syria, killing several militants. By 12 August 2019, Air Canada had increased its offer by nearly 40% to C$18 per share from $13, valuing the acquisition at $720 million (US$544 million), to obtain backing from Letko Brosseau, Transat AT’s largest shareholder with 19% of the company.