Air pollution
The problem
Air pollution threatens children's health and is the biggest environmental health risk factor. Air pollution was the second leading risk factor for death among children under five in 2021, after malnutrition. Air pollution was linked to a total of 709,000 deaths in children under 5 years old, according to the 2024 State of Global Air. This represents 15 per cent of all global deaths in children under five and means that every day almost 2,000 children under 5 die because of health impacts linked to air pollution. More than 70 per cent of these deaths were linked to household air pollution due to cooking with polluting fuels. The biggest impacts were seen in Africa and South Asia.
In 2021, an estimated 2.3 billion (or about 30 per cent of the global population) still relied on polluting fuels and technologies for cooking, which generates harmful household air pollution. The overwhelming majority of these families reside in low-and middle-income countries. Exposure is particularly high among women and children, who spend the most time near cooking areas.
Combustion of fossil fuels, such as lignite coal, industrial processes, open burning of waste, waste incineration, agricultural practices, construction, demolition, motor vehicles and transportation, and natural processes, such as dust storms and volcanic eruptions can cause outdoor air pollution. Climate change is also expected to worsen air quality with increased ground-level ozone and wildfires.
Some of the major sources of air pollution harming children’s health includes air pollution from household, waste-related, traffic-related, landscape fires like wildfires, secondhand smoke and dust and sand storms.
15
per cent
of all global deaths in children under 5 years were linked to air pollution in 2021.
Children’s unique vulnerability
Children are physically more exposed to air pollution for several reasons. Young children breathe more rapidly than adults and take in more air relative to their body weight. They often spend more time outdoors and breathe air that is closer to the ground, which puts them in closer proximity to sources of pollution like dust and vehicle exhaust. Children also spend a significant amount of time indoors, and so may be significantly affected by household air pollution.
Children are physiologically more vulnerable to air pollution than adults because their brains, lungs and other organs are still developing. Some air pollutants can cross the placenta and affect developing babies. Air pollution can also affect lung function and development, which continues through adolescence.
Health impacts on children
Air pollution negatively affects many systems in children’s bodies, causing morbidity and mortality in the youngest of children, including neonates. When pregnant women are exposed to polluted air, they are more likely to give birth prematurely, and the babies may have a low birth weight. Air pollution also negatively affects 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.
There is robust evidence that air pollution is strongly associated with pneumonia, which accounts for 22 per cent of all deaths of children between 1 to 5 years of age. Ground-level ozone is a powerful airway irritant and can cause breathing problems, especially in children with asthma. Almost half of all deaths due to lower respiratory tract infections in children under 5 years of age are caused by particulate matter from household air pollution.
In some countries in Africa and Asia, nearly 1 in every 3 lower respiratory infection deaths in children under 5 are linked to air pollution. In 2021, ozone, which increases with rising temperatures, contributed to an estimated 489,518 deaths globally. In addition, 34 per cent of preterm births are linked to air pollution with these children potentially facing a lifetime of health consequences, disabilities and developmental delays.
Otitis media (an infection in the middle ear) in children has also been clearly associated with ambient air pollution exposure. Exposure to traffic-related air pollution is also associated with an increased risk of childhood leukaemia.
Air pollution threatens the health of children globally
What partners can do
Set up and maintain air quality monitoring systems and report information to the public
such as by integrating it into daily weather forecasts and noting levels of air pollution that are dangerous to children and pregnant women.
Increase the ambition of national climate and environmental policies
such as National Adaptation Plans or Nationally Determined Contributions, ensuring inclusion of child-sensitive health commitments and specific air quality targets.
Enhance indoor air quality in daycare centres, hospitals and schools
such as kindergartens through regular monitoring, better ventilation, filtration systems and other approaches.
Provide affordable, clean fuel options and incentives
to shift to cleaner modes of transport, including more fuel-efficient school buses.
Strengthen policies and investments
to expedite the transition to clean, efficient energy and transport across all sectors.
Assess children’s environmental history of air pollution exposure.
Counsel on exclusive breastfeeding, nutrition, exercise, early screening to detect air pollution-related illnesses and recommend ways to reduce air pollution exposure.
Advocate with decision-makers
including members of local governments, community leaders, school boards and others, on air pollution risks and ways to mitigate the health concerns for children.
Invest in 'net zero' and more resilient health systems
reducing pollution and emissions.
Strengthen health sector readiness
in advance, in terms of information, human and financial resources, medicine and equipment.
Conduct research on the effects of air pollution on children's health
as well as potential treatment, prevention and management.
Advocate with decision-makers
including members of local governments, community leaders, school boards and others, on air pollution risks and ways to mitigate the health concerns for children.
Train health workers, teachers and people in other child-centric careers
to understand and help protect children from air pollution, as well as advocate for effective and comprehensive policies to reduce children’s exposure to air pollution.
Conduct research
on the effects of air pollution on children’s health as well as potential treatment, prevention and management.
Set ambitious targets with a clear action plan to reduce emissions
such as mapping air pollution footprints, investing in and using clean technologies and raising awareness among employees and customers about air pollution.
Go beyond industrial compliance of environmental and health regulations
to undertake due diligence to ensure children are protected from air pollution throughout the supply chain.
Create new business opportunities
offering green technology and green services to consumers.
Collect and share disaggregated data and evidence
with the public sector that can close information gaps about air pollution and children’s health.
Partner with governments, civil society and other stakeholders
to protect children’s health from air pollution caused by industrial processes.
State of Global Air 2024
The State of Global Air 2024 report highlights how air pollution was the second leading risk factor for death among children under 5 years in 2021, after malnutrition. The report presents information on exposures to and health impacts of exposure to common air pollutants including fine particulate matter, ozone, and for the first time, nitrogen dioxide. The report was produced by the State of Global Air Initiative, a collaboration between the Health Effects Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease project in partnership with UNICEF. The report is based on data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD 2021) of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), producing estimates of the impact of 88 environmental, behavioral, and dietary risk factors on health across 204 countries and global territories. The estimates are based on the globally modeled burden of disease estimates of IHME and do not reflect official country reporting.
Tips for caregivers
Air pollution is one of the greatest threats to children’s health. Ninety-nine per cent of people in the world live in places where the air is considered unhealthy.
When children breathe toxic air, it harms their health and jeopardizes their future. For children to grow up healthy, they need clean, safe air. Here are some ways you can reduce air pollution in your environment and help protect your child from its impacts.
Making air pollution's harm visible
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