A new report by the World Health Organization on air pollution and child health, launched on the occasion of their first Global Health Conference on Air Pollution and Health, shows that almost all of the world’s children are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution.
The report also finds that in an increasingly populated and warmer world, still depending on carbon-based technologies, the air we breathe has serious effects on our health, accounting for a third of deaths from stroke, lung cancer and heart disease. Air pollution is a major environmental health threat, and children are the most vulnerable to it.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said , “Polluted air is poisoning millions of children and ruining their lives.”
Around 93% of the world’s children under the age of 15 years (1.8 billion children) breathe polluted air that puts their health and development at serious risk every day. This is more common in low- and middle-income countries. Tragically, many of the children die, 600,000 children were estimated to have died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air in 2016.
The Air pollution and child health: Prescribing clean air report reveals as well that pregnant women that are exposed to polluted air are more likely to give birth prematurely, and have small, low birth-weight children. Air pollution also impacts neurodevelopment and cognitive ability and can trigger asthma, and childhood cancer. Children who have been exposed to high levels of air pollution may be at greater risk for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease later in life.
One reason why children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution is that they breathe more rapidly than adults and so absorb more pollutants. They also live closer to the ground, where some pollutants reach peak concentrations – at a time when their brains and bodies are still developing.
Newborns and young children are also more susceptible to household air pollution in homes that regularly use polluting fuels and technologies for cooking, heating and lighting.
That smog is not visible in the air does not mean that the air is healthy. Microscopic pollutants in the air can slip past the body’s defenses, penetrating deep into the respiratory and circulatory system, damaging lungs, heart and brain.
There are two main types of air pollution –ambient air pollution or outdoor pollution from fuel combustion from mobile sources, power plants, industry or biomass burning; and household air pollution or indoor pollution, generated by household’s combustion of fuels like coal, wood or kerosene, using open fires or basic stoves in poorly ventilated spaces. Independently of where it is produced, both contribute to each other, as air moves from inside buildings to the outside, and vice versa.
“But there are many straight-forward ways to reduce emissions of dangerous pollutants”, said Dr Maria Neira, “WHO is supporting implementation of health-wise policy measures like accelerating the switch to clean cooking and heating fuels and technologies, promoting the use of cleaner transport, energy-efficient housing and urban planning. We are preparing the ground for low emission power generation, cleaner, safer industrial technologies and better municipal waste management”, she added.
The Key Findings of the Report are;
- Air pollution affects neurodevelopment, leading to lower cognitive test outcomes, negatively affecting mental and motor development.
- Air pollution is damaging children’s lung function, even at lower levels of exposures
Globally, 93% of the world’s children under 15 years of age are exposed to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels above WHO air quality guidelines, which include the 630 million of children under 5 years of age, and 1.8 billion of children under 15 years - In low- and middle-income countries around the world, 98% of all children under 5 are exposed to PM2.5 levels above WHO air quality guidelines. In comparison, in high-income countries, 52% of children under 5 are exposed to levels above WHO air quality guidelines.
- More than 40% of the world’s population – which includes for 1 billion children under 15 – is exposed to high levels of household air pollution from mainly cooking with polluting technologies and fuels.
- About 600’000 deaths in children under 15 years of age were attributed to the joint effects of ambient and household air pollution in 2016.
- Together, household air pollution from cooking and ambient (outside) air pollution cause more than 50% of acute lower respiratory infections in children under 5 years of age in low- and middle-income countries.
- Air pollution is one of the leading threats to child health, accounting for almost 1 in 10 deaths in children under five years of age.
- Read WHO’s press release here.
Source: United Nations Climate Change (UNCC)