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It’s Time for Parents to Step Up in the Fight for Clean Air

Fossil fuel pollution is impacting the most vulnerable among us: children. Their future—and health—are at stake.

That’s because a growing body of science shows that fine and ultrafine particles, usually bound to toxic chemicals and heavy metals in wildfire smoke and exhaust, are causing brain injuries in children. When scientists studied the brains of children and young adults in Mexico City, notorious for its bad air, they found fossil fuel particles, encased in Alzheimer’s-like plaques, embedded in the prefrontal cortex. Though autism and ADHD are complex disorders with multiple causes both genetic and environmental, it is increasingly clear that air pollution—caused by fossil fuels and worsening due to climate change—is a significant risk factor.

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