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In megacities around the world, including , humans are polluting air at a rate that .

Most human-made air pollution is like (particulate matter) or even smaller (ultrafine particulate matter). The link to respiratory conditions such as pneumonia, bronchitis and asthma is well known. Almost one million children die from pneumonia each year, .

Being so small, particulate matter can also travel . Once there, it can promote brain inflammation, which contributes to cell loss within the central nervous system, and likely to .

While mild neurogeneration is a natural aspect of aging, it can be worsened and quickened by neuroinflammation from severe air pollution. Even worse, —during childhood.

That's right —millions of children around the world currently breathe air that may put them at risk of premature cognitive decline, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

This is the story of how we continue to poison our children's brains and cut their lives short.

Unexplained deaths of children

In the late 1990s, neuropathologist and pediatrician , reported a by examining brain tissues in adults, children and dogs after unexplained sudden "accidental" deaths.

Those brains had only one thing in common —they were from residents of Mexico City, one of the most polluted megacities in the world.

Further study showed what became a frequent grim picture in scientific reports. Microscopic images of unhealthy brain slices in diseased animals and humans showed particulate matter and ultrafine particulate matter as tiny dark spots surrounded by inflamed tissue.

Around the inflamed spots you can sometimes see strips that resemble scars but other times you can see pinkish stems. These are the .

I joined Lilian's team as an . We looked for signs of premature cognitive decline in living residents, using behavioral tests and taking various types of images of target brain regions.

Substantial cognitive decline in kids' brains

We found that children from Mexico City had as compared to population norms, and as compared to other children of similar age, sex and family and neighborhood backgrounds who lived in less polluted areas.

We were also able to pinpoint unusual cognitive deficits to : the prefrontal, temporal and parietal lobes of the cortex.

, possibly relating to speech and language developmental deficits. Neuroimages in children were consistent with —the parts of the brain providing the connections for electrical communication. In many cases we were able to show that .

Today, show a considerable agreement: the brains of millions of children are being damaged by air pollution and protecting them should be of pressing importance for public health.

Public health crisis requiring immediate action

The good news: It is still possible to clear the air of cities, both indoors and outdoors, and .

However, our attitudes must now . We need to commit to hard choices that may go against the convenience and ease of modern life we are accustomed to. For example, relying on cars and other combustion-based technologies.

If things are to change, the . We will never make it if one side of this equation continues to download responsibility to the other.

, in people of all ages. Such diseases are and there is still no cure for them.

The science is in. Children are now rising up globally . We must respond, with concrete changes to our habits.

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