The United Nations Organization (UN) affirms that practically the entire world population (99%) breathes air that does not meet the minimum quality standards established by the World Health Organization (WHO). This poor air quality increases the risk of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, such as stroke, and respiratory diseases, among other negative effects, and causes seven million deaths a year that could be prevented. The UN has requested an end to the financing of fossil fuels that are at the origin of this serious public health problem.
At least, it seems that awareness among citizens and public administrations has increased. For example, there are already 6,000 cities in the world that currently measure air quality, 2,000 more than they already did in the 2018 records. This control has not had an impact on an improvement in the quality of the air we breathe in which fine particles and nitrogen dioxide abound. Polluted air causes an increase in heart and respiratory diseases, and also lung cancer. Ozone mainly causes or worsens asthma. Nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide also contribute to respiratory diseases such as more cases of asthma, bronchial disorders, inflammation and lung failure.
In short, the effects of air pollution on health are evident and serious. The WHO ensures that a third of deaths from stroke, lung cancer and heart disease are directly related to air pollution. This international organization indicates that breathing this poor quality air has an effect similar to that of smoking tobacco and is much more serious than, for example, the effects caused by following a diet with a high amount of salt. It is a public health problem that must be urgently addressed because every day we breathe air full of microscopic pollutants that bypass the body’s defenses and penetrate the respiratory and circulatory systems, causing damage to the lungs, heart and brain.
The WHO has published a list with tips to try to slightly limit the effects of pollution. He advises, first of all, to avoid walking through crowded streets at rush hour and, if you are walking with a small child, you must lift him off the ground so that he is not at the level of the exhaust pipes of the vehicles. Likewise, it is necessary to avoid standing for a long time in streets with high vehicle traffic. It is advisable not to use the car on the days with the highest pollution so as not to contribute to worsening air levels. It is also important to look for less polluted places to exercise outdoors. Burning household waste should also be avoided because they tend to produce smoke that is very harmful to health.
The effects of pollution are especially serious in the child population. Worldwide, it is estimated that up to 14% of children between the ages of 5 and 18 have asthma related to an environment with polluted air. Every year, more than half a million children under the age of 5 die from respiratory diseases associated with air pollution, which, on the other hand, also causes childhood cancers.
Pregnant women who are exposed to polluted air are at greater risk of early delivery, causing lower birth weight babies and impaired fetal brain growth. And it has also been related, according to the WHO, the relationship between pollution and cognitive dysfunction in both children and adults. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO, is blunt and affirms that “polluted air poisons millions of children and is ruining their lives. We can’t allow it. All children should breathe clean air to grow and develop fully. One factor that he explains why children suffer more from the effects of air pollution is that they breathe faster than adults and, therefore, absorb more polluting particles.
