Air pollution is everywhere. The fine pollutants in the air break through our body’s defenses, penetrate into our respiratory and circulatory systems, and damage our lungs, heart and brain.
There are two types of air pollution: environmental (outdoor) air pollution and indoor air pollution. The latter is mainly caused by burning household fuels (coal, wood or kerosene, etc.) in poorly ventilated places or inefficient stoves. Because the air is fluid, indoor and outdoor air pollution can affect each other.
About 3 billion people around the world still use solid fuels (such as firewood, crop waste, charcoal, coal, and animal manure) and kerosene for cooking in open flames and inefficient stoves. Most of them are poor and live in low- and middle-income countries. Nearly 4 million people die prematurely every year due to indoor air pollution caused by solid fuel and kerosene cooking. Women and children spend the longest time indoors and are most affected by indoor air pollution.
Main pollutants
The main pollutants in the air include:
- Particulates
- Nitrogen dioxide
- Sulfur dioxide
- ozone
What kind of pollutants affects people most? Particulates absolutely, it is often abbreviated as PM and used as a measure of air pollution. Although particles with a diameter of 10 microns or less (≤PM10) can penetrate and embed deep in the lungs, the ones that are more harmful to health are those with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (≤PM2.5). These particles are very small, only one 60th the diameter of a human hair.
PM2.5 can enter the blood system through the lung barrier. Long-term exposure to these particles may increase the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as lung cancer.
Children suffer from air pollution
More than 90% of children in the world breathe heavily polluted air every day, putting their health and development at serious risk. In 2016, 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air.
One reason why children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution is that they breathe faster than adults and therefore absorb more pollutants. In addition, the living space of children whose brains and bodies are still developing is closer to the ground, where some pollutants have the highest concentrations.
Air Pollution and Child Health: Clean Air studies the serious impact of environmental (outdoor) and household air pollution on the health of children in the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The report clarified that if pregnant women are exposed to polluted air, they are more likely to give birth prematurely and give birth to thin babies with low birth weight.
Air pollution can also affect children’s neurodevelopment and cognitive abilities, and may cause asthma and childhood cancer. Children exposed to high levels of air pollution may have a higher risk of developing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease in later life.
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