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On Monday, the World Health Organization released a report that roughly 1.7 million children aged five and under are affected and has a high-risk of death because of environmental pollutants brought in by the air and water.

According to a report released by the CNN, these numbers presented equates to one in four deaths of children 1-month-old up to 5 years old. These cases are a result of outdoor pollution, unsafe access to clean water, poor hygiene practices and lack of proper sanitation.

WHO Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health Director, Dr. Maria Neira said that polluted environments are costing the health of the children and those around them. Almost 90 percent of the world's total population is breathing an air that violates the guidelines set by WHO as an air that qualifies as safe. The imminent progress of manufacturing companies and the growth of electrical and electronic waste are putting a toll on the concern for a cleaner and healthier environment.

If those wastes from factories causing chemical inhibitors and air smoke cannot be disposed of properly, children are in danger of being exposed to toxins that might be a cause of attention deficit and harm intelligence capacities, cancer and lung damage. 

A polluted environment increases the risk of chronic respiratory and heart diseases, stroke, and contaminant problems, the Reuters reports.

Margaret Chan, WHO's Director-General said that a polluted environment is a deadly place for children. The young are still developing their immune systems and organs and since they have small airways and bodies, they are most vulnerable to dirty water and air.

The study also points out that the government should not only focus on the present effect of environmental pollution but to also notice and put into study the potential long-term effects on a child's health and well-being when exposed to pollutants in the early stage of life.

A professor of Maternal Productive and Child Health Epidemiology said that things are not yet too late. The government, health authorities and individual concerned in the welfare of the children and the environment should act now to protect the impending health of the future generations.