Global Air Pollution Kills 2,000 Kids Under Five Every Day: Report

Air pollution is now the second-biggest killer of children under the age of five globally, a new report released Wednesday shows, with the climate emergency and the continued use of dirty energy sources inextricably linked to the growing risk faced by young children exposed to toxic fumes.

Each day, according to the State of Global Air report by the Health Effects Institute (HEI) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), nearly 2,000 children under the age of five die from the effects of air pollution, with children in the Global South most at risk.

In most African countries, children under five are 100 times more likely to die from asthma and other other effects of air pollution than their counterparts in high-income countries.

In 2021, according to the report, air pollution was second only to malnutrition as a risk factor for death among young children. For the general population, air pollution overtook tobacco use as the second-leading cause of death worldwide, with high blood pressure still the leading cause.

Air pollution now kills more children worldwide than poor sanitation and a lack of clean drinking water.

The report should serve as "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," said Dr. Pallavi Pant, head of global health for HEI. "This points sharply at an opportunity for cities and countries to consider air quality and air pollution as high risk factors when developing health policies and other noncommunicable disease prevention and control programs."

"As droughts become more severe and prolonged and land becomes drier, wildfires ravage once-thriving forests and dust storms impact vast plains, filling the air with particles that linger for long periods of time."

The analysis pointed to specific ways in which the effects of the climate emergency, such as prolonged droughts and the wildfires that have resulted from dry conditions in places like Chile and Canada, has made it more likely that children around the world will suffer from life-threatening air pollution.

"As droughts become more severe and prolonged and land becomes drier, wildfires ravage once-thriving forests and dust storms impact vast plains, filling the air with particles that linger for long periods of time," reads the report.

The particles that HEI and UNICEF expressed the greatest concern about are particulate matter (PM) 2.5, which are smaller than 2.4 micrometers in diameter and can enter people's bloodstreams and organs. PM 2.5 has been associated with heart disease, stroke, lung disease, and other health problems, and is behind 90% of air pollution-related deaths.

PM 2.5 is carried into communities through wildfire smoke and emissions, but can also be present in homes as people across the Global South—including 95% of the population in at least 18 African countries—rely on the burning of solid fuels for cooking.

About half a million children died in 2021 from exposure to polluted indoor air, according to HEI, as families rely on burning coal, paraffin, and other solid fuels.

Providing families with cleaner-burning cookstoves, grid electricity, and cleaner fuels has helped cut childhood deaths from pollution by 53% since 2000, according to the report, but the number of children continuing to die from indoor air pollution is "staggering," said HEI.

"Our inaction is having profound effects on the next generation, with lifelong health and well-being impacts," said Kitty van der Heijden, deputy executive director of UNICEF. "The global urgency is undeniable. It is imperative that governments and businesses consider these estimates and locally available data and use it to inform meaningful, child-focused action to reduce air pollution and protect children's health."

Along with wildfires and the use of dirty fuels for household needs, the climate emergency's impact on global temperatures is linked to the high death toll from air pollution among children.

High temperatures can cause a higher prevalence of pollutants like nitrogen oxides and ozone, which can irritate people's airways and cause more frequent and severe symptoms in people with asthma. Long-term exposure to ground-level ozone pollution is also linked to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPB), which accounted for nearly half a million of 8 million worldwide deaths related to air pollution in 2021.

While air pollution is disproportionately harming children and adults in low-income countries, wealthy countries including the U.S. are also affected by ozone pollution, which can be heightened by high temperatures.

"In 2021, nearly 50% of all ozone-related COPD deaths were in India (237,000 deaths) followed by China (125,600 deaths) and Bangladesh (15,000 deaths)," reads the report. "Notably, the United States—partly due to its sizable population, widespread ozone pollution, and relatively high rates of COPD—saw 14,000 deaths in 2021, more than any other high-income country."

Asthma and Lung U.K. said HEI's report showed the need for policymakers to pass laws providing funding for families to purchase electric vehicles or use other cleaner travel options.

"Air pollution's impact on child health is unacceptable," said the London-based group. "We need political parties to step up and commit to clean air laws now to reduce air pollution and protect children."