This is how air pollution harms children's health | health

Air pollution is the new tobacco and the simple act of breathing kills 7 million people a year and damages billions more, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief executive officer of the United States. World Health Organization (WHO) in interview with The Guardian Saturday

It is estimated that 91% of the world's population is exposed to air pollution, which represents the greatest risk to environmental health worldwide, causing 4.2 million deaths annually due to poor outdoor air and 3.8 million to household exposure through dirty homes. 19659002] In India, pollution kills 1.1 million people, according to the Global Air 2018 report, which links air pollutants to 10.6% of all deaths in the country. In addition to asthma and other respiratory diseases, pollution causes strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, lung infections, and cancers of the trachea, bronchi and lungs.

For children, the risk begins In his new report published Monday, two days before the first World Conference on Pollution and Health, to be held from October 30 to November 30 [OMS] WHO focused on air pollution and children's health in children. [19659002] The air quality in northern India is deteriorating rapidly leading to Diwali, the level of PM2.5, a fine dust that causes and exacerbates respiratory and pulmonary diseases, was in Delhi 16 times higher that the national standard is 40 times higher than the international safety limits of 20 micrograms per cubic meter for PM10 and 10 micrograms per cubic meter for PM2.5. Delhi has 38 stations in real time and 10 manual stations, against a handful in other major metros, where data are insufficient.

The mother's exposure to polluted air has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes, including premature birth, low birth weight, abnormal birth and head length, and short stature. gestational age. Children's developing lungs are the most likely to get hurt because they breathe faster, are more active, spend more time outdoors and have an immune system that is still developing.

Children exposed to pollution have a lower maximum lung functional capacity and are more vulnerable to infection and the toxic effects of air pollutants in adulthood, leading to further exacerbations of chronic lung diseases such as as asthma and cystic fibrosis, and an increase in the number of hospitalizations.

Gases and ozone react chemically in the presence of sunlight, preventing ultraviolet B rays from reaching the Earth's surface, leading to a vitamin D deficiency weakening the bones in children. Human skin needs to be coated with 7-dehydrocholesterol in cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) when exposed to ultraviolet B radiation from the sun, needed to strengthen bones and prevent bone loss (osteoporosis) later in life.

Infants are the most vulnerable to toxic chemicals during the first 1,000 days after birth, when the bulk of brain development occurs. This also causes psychological and behavioral problems, developmental delays at three years, a four-point drop in IQ at five, says a Unicef ​​report published in 2017.

exposure to traffic noise is related to behavioral problems. Sleeping in rooms exposed to the noise of night-time traffic makes children hyperactive, sleepless and raises their blood pressure.

Regulations to reduce pollution and reduce exposure to toxins from the air can counteract some of the adverse effects. The reduction of sulfur dioxide in the former East Germany following the reunification of Germany in 1990 resulted in an improvement of lung function and a decrease in respiratory diseases such as bronchitis, sinusitis and frequent colds in children. Studies conducted in the United States also showed that children who moved to states where the air was better had increased lung function and fewer hospitalizations related to respiratory disorders, such as Asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis and respiratory infections.

First published: Oct. 28, 2018 11:47 IST