Updated March 14, 2019Air pollution can have devastating health effects for people of all ages, but children are more vulnerable and face specific risks that can last a lifetime, experts say.Children breathe faster than adults and are smaller “so they end up getting a higher dose of air pollution into their lungs relative to their body mass than adults,” said Rima Habre, assistant professor of clinical preventative health at the University of Southern California .
These are disproportionately inhaled by young children and their mothers, who spend more time inside and often close to the home’s stove. Research into how exactly air pollution causes these problems is still ongoing, but the World Health Organisation says dirty air contributed to respiratory tract infections that resulted in 543,000 deaths in children under five in 2016.“There is some evidence to suggest air pollution may shift metabolic or stress response pathways that could then put children at greater risk for diabetes later in life or cardiovascular diseases,” she added.
“Gases and ultrafine particulates can penetrate deep into the lungs of the mothers and enter their bloodstream. These particles have been found in placenta,” said professor Neil Thomas of the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Applied Health Research. There is also recent initial evidence to suggest prenatal exposure to air pollution may alter newborn thyroid function.
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This is so sickening