China’s Air Pollution Kills 64,000 Babies in the Country Per Year

Studies show that air pollution residues are to blame for thousands of stillbirths.

Although air pollution has long been associated with several health issues, Wion said that it has only lately been determined that there are around 64,000 stillbirths every year.

Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team drive their vehicle as they leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei, Province on January 11, 2020, where the Wuhan health commission said that the man who died from a respiratory illness had purchased goods. - China said on January 11, 2020 that a 61-year-old man had become the first person to die from a respiratory illness believed to be caused by a new virus from the same family as SARS (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which claimed hundreds of lives more than a decade ago. Forty-one people with pneumonia-like symptoms have so far been diagnosed with the new virus in Wuhan, with one of the victims dying on January 8, 2020, the central Chinese city's health commission said on its website. NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images

Over the years, China's leadership has been pressured to promote renewable energy efforts, modernize enterprises, and lessen traffic-related pollution due to the country's worrying air pollution levels.

The World Health Organization continues to warn vulnerable population groups about the risks and negative impacts of poor air quality on their health, including pregnant women, persons over 60, and children under 5.

Air Pollution May Cause Still Birth

Reports, citing a recent epidemiological study, mentioned that exposure to pollution particles, produced mainly by burning fossil fuels, may cause nearly half of stillbirths.

Hazardous air pollution particles were found in fetuses' lungs and brains, establishing a link between it and stillbirths. Scientists believe that air pollution may interfere with the mother's capacity to provide the fetus with oxygen by altering the placenta and resulting in irreparable developmental harm.

According to research author Zhu Tong, China has been tackling air pollution head-on in recent years. As a consequence, air quality has improved quickly. This is crucial for protecting the health of young children and pregnant women. But he continued there are still a lot of pregnant women exposed to air pollution because of the large population and unequal social development.

In communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, similar studies examining the connection between air pollution and stillbirths have also been conducted. But as of right now, Zhu Tong's study is the only one to pinpoint the precise number of recorded fetal fatalities.

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How China Fixes Air Pollution

Studies also reveal that, despite the air pollution issue in China, things appear to have improved over time.

Notably, following the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese government started significantly reducing air pollution throughout the country. A wave of limitations on polluting activities was implemented while the city was in the limelight throughout the globe due to worries about the impact of air pollution on athlete performance.

Since a smog-fighting program began in 2013, China's air quality has considerably improved. Between 2013 and 2017, the air quality in the densely populated northern Chinese cities improved by 35%.

PM2.5 concentrations, which are tiny, hazardous airborne particles, dropped to 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2016 from levels in 2015, according to Reuters.

Even though efforts to minimize air pollutants have shown to have had a large positive impact and have made remarkable progress, China's air quality continues to be a significant problem.