Study Shows Air Pollution Causes Brain Damage To Babies

It is now considered to be rare to breathe in fresh air, especially if you live in the city where pollution is just everywhere. Despite the different movements and non-profit organizations fighting and spreading awareness when it comes to saving our dear home called Earth, experts believe it may already be too late since the extreme damage has been done. There are different kinds of pollution but there are two that just affects living things the most, and that is the Water and Air pollution. Humans caused all of these, they unfortunately continue to actually, which is why more and more people are suffering from the effects. Sadly, innocent babies in India have actually been suffering from the consequences.

UNICEF: 17 MILLION BABIES WORLDWIDE AFFECTED BY TOXIC AIR

During a press release last 6th of December, UNICEF or the United Nations Children’s Fund, who provides help to children and mothers all over the world especially to third world countries, said that there are actually approximate of 17 million babies who are under a year old are actually suffering from pollution. These babies are unfortunately breathing toxic air that causes their brain to not develop the right way, in fact, 12 million of them are living in the countries in South Asia.

According to Nicholas Rees’ research entitled Danger In The Air: How air pollution can affect brain development in young children that was just recently released, children are incredibly vulnerable to dirty and toxic air, most especially babies under the age of 1. Millions of people from all over the world are actually dying because of pneumonia, most especially children under 5, one of the causes is not because of their u healthy lifestyle, but because of toxic air. According to experts, the very first 1,000 days of life is the most important one, this is because the brain is in its critical development, so if pollution affects a baby, that baby’s ability to learn will most likely be affected. Poverty is one of the reasons why most babies in South Asia don’t actually survive, the toxic air that they breathe in every single day is too much for the little bodies, especially with the lack of clean water and sanitation.

HOW DOES POLLUTION DAMAGES A DEVELOPING BRAIN

Since infant’s brains are still vulnerable, even just a small amount of toxic air could be very dangerous for them. According to UNICEF’s chief of early childhood development Pia Rebello Britto, babies’ brain is still developing even if they are already out of the womb, the development actually involves the baby’s optimal thinking, as well as motor skills, memory and of course the ability to learn so espousing to toxic air would make their brain develop certain problems that will surely affect its growth. Babies who have had their brains affected by toxic air are definitely at risk having ADHD or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and also may impact their IQ and memory. Signs may not be visible until they are older than the age of 4, babies who are at high risk, just like the children in South Asia, may actually not reach this age because of the severity of the air pollution in their area, this is all according to the World Health Organization.

SOUTH ASIA’S AIR POLLUTION PROBLEM

Rees also believes that the world must be aware of how bad this is actually getting and urgent action is definitely needed or else more and more innocent children will suffer. However, he admitted that no one has the power to prevent every single child from dying, it is just impossible. Then again, it is possible to start helping those who still have the chance to live a normal life, in every possible way you can. The fact that there are millions of babies die from the toxic air every single year is indeed very concerning, this is according to one of the researchers from Imperial College in London. She did her own research that was recently published as well and she managed to find that it is not only the baby’s brain development that gets affected but also their overall health. South Asia is exposed to toxic air, which is why women who have babies in their wombs are most likely to give birth to an underweight baby or an infant that has complications.

Experts believe the fresh air is still out there for us to breathe in, but only if we find and pursue renewable sources of energy and prevent human beings to continue bringing damage to this world we call home.