All Mongolians suffer from the suffocating effects of the heavy smog, however the children are much more vulnerable to succumbing to the pollution’s hazardous consequences as “their immune system and lungs are not fully developed” (Altangerel, 2016).
Children
- National Center for Public Health and UNICEF (2018). List of diseases attributable to air pollution and children [diagram]. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/mongolia/Mongolia_air_pollution_crisis_ENG.pdf
Every year 4.3 million people’s lives are taken by the hazardous indoor pollution levels in Mongolia, and among these 4.3 million people, 13% of them are children under the age of 5 (Altangerel, 2016). Additionally, the leading causes for neonatal mortality are all either directly or indirectly linked to the air pollution: asphyxia, respiratory distress, and congenital defects (Child survival, n.d.).
Furthermore, children living in the capital where pollution is most concentrated have been reported to have lower lung function than children living in the rural areas of Mongolia (Gheorghe, Ankhbayar, & van Nieuwenhuyzen, 2018).
Ikhbayar, Sh. (2018). [child with mask.]. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/mongolia/Mongolia_air_pollution_crisis_ENG.pdf
According to UNICEF, air pollution also puts pregnancies at risk, meaning unborn children are sadly not protected from the dangers of air pollution. There is a strong positive correlation between heavy smog breathed in by expecting mothers, and the increased numbers of still births, pre-term births, and low birth weights (Gheorghe, Ankhbayar, & van Nieuwenhuyzen, 2018)