93%
The percentage of children worldwide under age 15 who breathed air with particulate matter levels that exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines in 2016, according to a WHO report. This level of pollution can harm neurodevelopment and has been associated with cognitive and motor delays and behavioral disorders.
98%
The percentage of children under age 5 exposed to unsafe air pollution levels in low- and middle-income countries. Some is ambient air pollution from sources such as car exhaust, and some is household air pollution from cooking and heating fuels. In high-income countries, 52 percent of children under age 5 are exposed to unsafe air pollution.
595,000
The approximate number of deaths of children under age 15 worldwide in 2016 attributable to the joint effects of ambient and household air pollution. This is mainly because air pollution contributes to about half of all cases of childhood acute lower respiratory infection (pneumonia and bronchitis) in low- and middle-income countries.
Source: Air pollution and child health: Prescribing clean air. Summary. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2018. Available at www.who.int/ceh/publications/air-pollution-child-health/en/opens in new window.
