Air pollution from agricultural sources: the elephant—or, is it a cow?—in the room

Breathing clean air is vital for healthy lungs. Every day, new research articles are published, telling us how indoor or ambient air contaminated with toxic particles and gases can affect our health. As respiratory health professionals, we are all aware of the health hazards from breathing air polluted by tobacco smoke, traffic, industry, biomass fuel combustion, or occupational sources. According to a recent WHO report, exposure to air pollution contributes to more than half of all deaths from acute respiratory infections in children under five years of age in low- and middle-income countries. Without fighting air pollution, all efforts to improve children’s health worldwide, such as vaccination, improved hygiene, better nutrition, will be much less successful.