Childhood air pollution burden

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics examines the disproportionate impact of air pollution on children under five, highlighting how structural economic dependencies on fossil fuels and polluting infrastructure drive a global environmental justice crisis. It details the physiological vulnerabilities of children, the link between maternal exposure and lifelong chronic diseases, and provides case studies from South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, and Bangladesh to illustrate the specific drivers of child mortality and morbidity.

• Air pollution is a critical driver of global child mortality, ranking as the second deadliest risk for children under five in 2021, causing 15% of all deaths in this age group. Children under five die from air pollution-related causes at nearly six times the rate of working-age adults (aged 20-54), and over a quarter (27.4%) of preventable deaths from known risk factors in this group are attributable to air pollution.
• Children are physiologically more vulnerable to air pollution due to developing immune systems, higher breathing rates relative to body size, and a tendency to breathe through their mouths. Exposure during critical windows of brain development in utero and early childhood is linked to impaired cognitive performance and behavioral functioning; a 20% reduction in outdoor air pollution could improve a child's working memory by 6.1%.
• Maternal exposure to air pollution during pregnancy leads to adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight and preterm birth, which are causally linked to lifelong chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. In 2019, PM2.5 exposure for pregnant women may have caused nearly 6 million premature births and 3 million underweight babies.
• There is a severe global disparity in air pollution burdens; children under five in the least-developed countries face death rates 94 times higher than those in the most-developed nations (1,005 deaths per day versus three). This is compounded by a lack of investment, as the average annual global spend to tackle outdoor air quality (USD 3.16 billion between 2018 and 2022) represents less than 1% of the annual fossil fuel subsidies (USD 593 billion) during the same period.
• In South Africa, coal-fired power generation is the primary driver of air pollution, with the country generating approximately 80% of its electricity from coal. This has resulted in South African children under five experiencing DALY rates from ambient PM that exceed the average for low-middle SDI countries, despite South Africa being a middle SDI country.
• In Brazil, agricultural burning and wildfires—driven by land conversion for beef and soy farming—cause significant respiratory spikes. In September 2024, São Paulo saw an approximately 77% increase in children hospitalised for respiratory conditions. Maternal exposure to wildfire smoke increases the risk of preterm birth by 41% in the Southeast and 5% in the North.
• Bangladesh faces extreme pollution from brick kilns and household solid-fuel cooking. In 2021, over 19,000 children under five died from air pollution-related causes. Mothers using high-polluting cooking fuels were 2.6 times more likely to have low birth weight babies, and children aged 3-5 exposed to solid fuels were 47% more likely to have developmental delays.
• Nigeria's child health burden is driven by oil-sector pollution, diesel generators, and household solid fuels. In 2019, lower respiratory infections from PM2.5 emissions accounted for around 60% of deaths in children under five. Additionally, gas flaring increases the incidence of stunting and underweight children, while oil spills before conception can double the neonatal death rate.

APA

Team, Z. (2025). Childhood air pollution burden. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/childhood-air-pollution-burden/

Chicago

Team, ZCA. Childhood air pollution burden. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2025. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/childhood-air-pollution-burden/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=ZCA |title=Childhood air pollution burden |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=14 October 2025 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/childhood-air-pollution-burden/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2025childhood, author = {Team, ZCA}, title = {{Childhood air pollution burden}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/childhood-air-pollution-burden/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }