A polluted environment is a deadly one – particularly for young children. Photo: WHO/D. Licona
6 March 2017 – Unhealthy environments are
responsible for one-quarter of young child deaths, according to two new reports
from the United Nations health agency, which reviewed the threats from
pollutants such as second-hand smoke, UV radiation, unsafe water and e-waste.
According to the latest information, polluted
environments take the lives of 1.7 million children under the age of five.
“A polluted environment is a deadly one –
particularly for young children,” said Margaret Chan, Director-General of the
UN World Health Organization (WHO). “Their developing organs and immune
systems, and smaller bodies and airways, make them especially vulnerable to
dirty air and water.”
In one of the two reports, Inheriting a
Sustainable World: Atlas on Children's Health and the Environment , WHO
announced that many of the common causes of death among children aged between
one month and five years of age are preventable with safe water and clear
cooking fuels. These include diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia.
The main pollutant is in the air, resulting in
570,000 deaths each year among children under five years old. Air pollution can
stunt brain development and reduce lung function and trigger asthma. In the
longer-term, exposure to air pollution can increase the child's risk of
contracting heart disease, a stroke or cancer.
To counter such exposure, WHO recommends
reducing air pollution, improving safe water and sanitation, and protecting
pregnant women and building safer environments, among other actions described
in Don't pollute my future! The impact of the environment on children's health
.
“Investing in the removal of environmental risks
to health, such as improving water quality or using cleaner fuels, will result
in massive health benefits,” said Maria Neira, WHO Director, Department of
Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health.
One of the emerging environmental threats to
children is electronic and electrical waste, according to the second WHO
report. Appliances such as old mobile phones that are improperly recycled
“expose children to toxins which can lead to reduced intelligence, attention
deficit, lung damage, and cancer,” the UN agency reported.
At the current rate, the amount of such waste is
expected to increase by 19 per cent between 2014 and 2018, up to 50 million
metric tonnes.
The reports also point out harmful chemicals
that work themselves through the food chain – such as fluoride, lead and
mercury, as well as the impact that climate change and UV rays have on
children's development.