Background: Nearly 40% of the world's population is exposed daily to household air pollution. The relative impact of prenatal and postnatal household air pollution exposure on early childhood pneumonia, a leading cause of mortality, is unknown. Research Question: Are prenatal or postnatal household air pollution, or both, associated with pneumonia risk in the first year of life? Study Design and Methods: The Ghana Randomized Air Pollution and Health Study enrolled 1,414 nonsmoking, pregnant women before 24 weeks’ gestation with prospective follow-up to the child's age of 1 year.
The burden imposed by pollution falls more on those living in low-income and middle-income countries, affecting children more than adults. Most air pollution results from incomplete combustion and contains a mixture of particulate matter and gases. Air pollution exposure has negative impacts on respiratory health. This article concentrates on air pollution in 2 settings, the child's home and the ambient environment. There is an inextricable 2-way link between air pollution and climate change, and the effects of climate change on childhood respiratory health also are discussed.
