Environmental Aspects Affecting Children Health

Presented By:
Introduction
• Health is a still challenge globally despite technological
growth
• Health challenges are barriers to healthy growth in
children and limits their survival to explore future
opportunities
• “Children are not adult” implying that they are more
skeptical and vulnerable to environmental effluents that
contaminate air, food, water, and their general ecosystem
 Air pollution; solid fuel smoke
• Combustion of biomass fuels emits air pollutants
• Nitrogen dioxide, Sulphur dioxide, and Carbon monoxide are
toxic gases from solid and fossil fuels
• Toxic gases access the respiratory tract during gaseous
exchange
• Open kitchen exposes children to toxic gases infections
Air pollution; volatile organic compounds

• Concentration of VOCs is intense within the residential compared to

external environment
• VOCs contaminates food and water vapor according to EPA
• Contact with urea-formaldehyde and phenol-formaldehyde resin
chemicals contributes to dermal and mucocutaneous effects in
children
 Air pollution; moulds pollutants

• Mould pollutants enter the house via windows, doors, and

crack openings
• Dumpy indoor environment supports the development of
molds
• Children’s contact with the molds contributes to allergy and
toxicity
• Inhalation of lip-soluble toxins and mycotoxins contributes
to health complications
Air pollution; mercury vapor

• Mercury vapor is a dangerous indoor air pollutant

• Inhalation of dissolved mercury vapor combines with
the red blood cells that get transported to central
nervous system
• Acute necrotizing bronchitis and pneumonitis health
complications result from high mercury concentration
in blood
• Industrial areas with elemental mercury heating
experience more children fatalities
 Air pollution; particulate matter

• Particulate matter exists in solid, liquid and gaseous forms

• Incomplete combustion contributes to solid particulates while
petroleum, and industrial emissions contributes to solid and liquid
particulates
• Children mostly breath through their mouths, limiting nasal hair
purifications
• The pollutant get transported directly to the lungs contributing to
lung cancer and respiratory infections along the tract
Air pollution; Sulphur compounds

• Sulphur compounds involve Sulfur dioxide (S02), sulphuric

acid aerosol (H2S04), sulfate particles, and hydrogen sulfide
(H2S)
• Sulphur forms a major air pollutants
• burning coal forms the primary producer of Sulphur
• Industrial emission of Sulphur involves smelters, and pulp and
paper mills
• Bronchitis is an example of an infection from sulphuric acid
aerosols
Foodborne hazards; pesticide contaminants

• Pesticides influence large-scale food production

• Large-scale production promotes healthy children population as it
crates adequate nutrition
• Dissolved pesticides contaminate food, making it harmful for
consumption and causes infectious diseases like cancer,
disruptions in the endocrine system, neural impairments and
immunotocity
Foodborne hazards; mercury pollutants

• Food contaminated with mercury pose health challenge to infant

developments
• Weak immunity expose children to fatal threats compared to
adults
• Fish products like shark, tuna and swordfish have high mercury
concentration
• Challenges of mercury overconsumption include loss of memory,
low development of visual-spatial skills, and loss of attention
Foodborne hazards; lead contaminants

• Lead destabilizes child-immunity

• Lead concentration in the body alters child normal
behavioral traits
• Children infested with lead lose concentration, slow
concentrations and kidney
• Airborne lead contaminate farm produce that cause
hazards
• after consumption and absorption into the blood stream
Foodborne hazards; mycotoxins pollutants

• Mould contain infectious mycotoxins in stale foods

• Aspergillus flavus mycotoxin contaminates corn and peanuts
• Mycotocixin contributes to cognitive underdevelopments in
infants
• Children develop weak immunity, and gastrointestinal defects that
reduces brain developments to full maturity
Foodborne hazards; food additives and supplements

• Additives enhance sweetness, flavor, outlook and appetite for

food
• Chemical and toxicity is present in the additives despite being
designed for food preservation
• Hypertension and loss of memory are some of the additive
health complications
• Biologically manufactured Vitamin A and D heavy intake
contributes to health challenges as they are rich in supplements
 Noise; physiological effects

• Noise cause infant stress and it affects hypothalamus-

pituitary-adrenal axis
• Noise causes body irritations and sleep deprivation
• Noisy environment keeps children awake throughout
the night
• Infants concentration in learning drastically reduces
• Children develop cardiovascular health complications
 Noise; psychological effects

• Excessive noise creates negative emotions such as

anger in children
• Infants get irritated by high sound pitch
• Children fail to overcome environmental challenges
and develop anger and stress
• Noisy environment limits intellectual capabilities
 Noise; clinical defects

• Children exposed to high-frequency noise develop

hearing loss
• Premature growth is witnessed in children with noise
disorder.
• Such children fail to develop self-irritability
• Children always feel irritated and lacks emotional
attachments
Global environment defects; burning fuels

• Burning fossil and wood fuels produces harmful gases.

• Incomplete combustion produces CO, Sulphuric gases. And
nitrogen dioxide that are harmful gases when inhaled
• Low immunity in children is incapable to resist respiratory
infections from incomplete fuel combustions
• Children develop coughs, sore throat and throat cancer from the
inhalation
Global environment defects; global warming

• Global warming produces harmful ultra-violet rays

• Heat strokes from persistent heating are harmful to young
teenagers’ skins
• Heat strokes cause gastrointestinal infections in infants as they
move in the environment
• Children experience psychological complications and trauma
from the strokes
Global environment defects; ecological disturbances

• Ecological disturbances result in earthquakes, floods, and drought

that affects food production
• Flood sweeps away vast farmlands, leaving the community in
hunger
• Food deficiency causes malnutrition
• Children with malnutrition develop low brain quotient that slows
leaning
• Floods cause malaria and water borne diseases
 Poisoning and envenoming from animals

• Poisonous animal bites cause infections in infants

• Poisonous and toxic exposures affect children’s body
functioning
• Excessive bites and exposures cause physical and
mental disabilities
• Unintended poisoning especially in infants is
hazardous to their health
Unintended injuries; drowning

• Emotional stress contributes to suicidal cases in children

• Lack of family attachments expose children to conflicts as
they fail to find-problem solvers
• Children left freely without supervision trip and fall in ponds
and pools where they succumb to suffocation
Unintended injuries; road accident injuries

• Road accidents are fatal and contribute to infant

mortalities
• Pedestrians, cyclists and motorist teenagers are
severely exposed to Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs)
• WHO report of 2000 indicate disheartening massive
deaths
Unintended injuries; cuts and falls

• Cuts and falls are major challenges in the physical

environment
• Global studies in brazil and UK indicate the rise of falls that
lead to disabilities
Unintended accidents; poisoning

• Acute unintentional poisoning cause massive deaths

• Lack of parental care contributes to unintentional poisoning
• Zimbabwe and Saudi Arabia are among the leading countries to
experience high mortalities from such poisoning
Unintended accidents; burns

• Fire accidents are fatal

• WHO organization suggest that fire
outbreaks are one of the leading causes
of child mortalities in developing
countries
• The burns are the leading cause of
trauma in UAE
Conclusion
 References

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• Etzel, R. A., & Balakrishnan, K. (2004). INDOOR AIR Overview. Children’s health and the environment, 107.
• Hauptman, M., Stierman, B., & Woolf, A. D. (2019). Children with autism spectrum disorder and lead poisoning:
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