Air Pollution Has A Devastating Impact On Children’s Health

https://cleantechnica.com/2018/12/02/air-pollution-has-a-devastating-impact-on-childrens-health/?fbclid=IwAR0N77wnu-TUYVoRUJbjjD1vT5ocEoVsUIZjPjq4UFzDZ71MVUtmsWUwOYM

Dec. 2, 2018

Every day around 93% of the world’s children under the age of 15 years (1.8 billion children) breathe air that is so polluted it puts their health and development at serious risk. According to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO), 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air in 2016.

The new report also reveals that when pregnant women are exposed to polluted air, they 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.

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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.

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.

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