According to a report released on Wednesday (Jun 19) by an independent nonprofit research organization in the United States, air pollution kills close to 2,000 children under the age of five every day. According to a recent study, air pollution is also the second biggest risk factor for both child and worldwide population fatalities.
8.1 million fatalities worldwide in 2021 were attributed to air pollution, according to the State of Global Air (SoGA) study.
The US-based Health Effects Institute (HEI) study also found that interior air pollution is having an impact on human health in addition to outside fine particle matter.
According to the study, children under five are considered to be more vulnerable, as air pollution has been related to health impacts such as low birth weight, asthma, lung illnesses, and early birth.
According to the assessment released this year in collaboration with UNICEF, exposure to air pollution was connected to more than 700,000 deaths of children under the age of five in 2021, second only to starvation.
The study also discovered that cooking indoors with polluting fuels was responsible for an astounding 500,000 child fatalities, primarily in Asia and Africa.
Children are “uniquely vulnerable” to the harm caused by air pollution since it can begin in the womb and have long-lasting consequences on their health, according to the paper, which highlighted that some of the largest health repercussions of air pollution were identified in children.
UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Kitty van der Heijden said in a statement that “every day, nearly 2000 children under the age of five die because of health impacts linked to air pollution, despite progress in maternal and child health.”
Based on data from over 200 countries and territories worldwide, the study found that almost everyone on Earth breaths unhealthy amounts of air pollution every day, which has a negative impact on human health.
Dr. Pallavi Pant, head of global health at HEI and the report’s lead author, said in a statement that “this new report offers a stark reminder of the significant impacts air pollution has on human health, with far too much of the burden borne by young children, older populations, and low- and middle-income countries.”
In addition, she demanded that “air quality and air pollution be considered as high-risk factors when developing health policies and other noncommunicable disease prevention and control programs” for both cities and nations.
Over 90 per cent (7.8 million) of air pollution-related deaths worldwide have been connected to PM2.5 particles.
Less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, PM2.5 particles are small enough to enter the lungs, remain there, and even find their way into the bloodstream. Adults who breathe in these microscopic particles may develop heart disease, stroke, diabetes, lung cancer, and COPD.
According to the report, air pollution is now the second most common risk factor for death worldwide, behind blood pressure, and is followed by heavy tobacco use.
