India sees highest pollution-related deaths of children below five years
active than adults; so their ventilation is even greater. They are closer to the ground, where pollution concentrations are higher. Certain pollutants (small enough to penetrate the alveolar wall) inhaled by a pregnant mother can enter her bloodstream and then cross the placental barrier and reach the foetus, and, in turn, affect the baby’s growth and development.
Children are also exposed to pollutants through mother’s milk. Pollutants from industrial sources, such as pesticides, fossil fuels, chemical by-products, flame retardants, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds, can enter the mother’s circulation by inhalation or, more commonly, ingestion before being passed into breast milk, the report says. For example, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS), a toxic and carcinogenic compound, have been reported at high levels in breast milk samples in the Mediterranean.
WHO finds a strong correlation between poverty and exposure to air pollution. Children in low-income communities suffer disproportionately higher effects of air pollution. “Poverty causes people to rely on polluting energy sources for their basic needs, and poverty compounds the health risks associated with their use. Poverty also limits people’s capacity to improve the environment in which they raise their children,” the report says. Female children are worst affected, and more girls than boys die premature due to air pollution in India, says WHO data.
Dr SK Chhabra, head of department (pulmonary, sleep and critical care medicine) at Primus Super Speciality Hospital, is not surprised with the WHO findings. He led a study last year at the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, which found that children in Delhi have a far lower lung capacity and lung growth rate compared to children of the same age in the United States.
“We have already reported that lung growth rate among Indian children is retarded. Nutritional deficiencies, protein and vitamin D deficiencies only compound the problem. Our experience shows that children under five are more impacted by indoor air pollution because of biomass burning within the house.”