• Women and children disproportionately bear the greatest health burden from polluting fuels and technologies in homes, as they typically labor over household chores such as cooking and collecting firewood, and spend more time exposed to harmful smoke from polluting stoves and fuels.

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• 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.

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• Many of the fuels and technologies used by households for cooking, heating, and lighting present safety risks. The ingestion of kerosene by accident is the leading cause of childhood poisonings, and a large fraction of the severe burns and injuries occurring in low- and middle-income countries are linked to household energy use for cooking, heating, and lighting. 

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• 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 exposing them to very high levels of fine particulate matter.

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• 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.