UNICEF Thailand releases new video warning of PM2.5 risks to children and unborn babies, voiced by young advocate

BANGKOK, 29 January 2026 – UNICEF Thailand has released two short videos highlighting the dangerous impact of PM2.5 air pollution on children, pregnant women, and babies in the womb, as part of efforts to raise public awareness during periods of severe air quality in Bangkok and many parts of Thailand.

The videos are voiced by Chirawan Oranratmanee, 21, a young person who lost her mother in 2023 to lung cancer linked to prolonged exposure to PM2.5. Her mother was a once-healthy university professor living in Chiang Mai.

“For me, the PM2.5 is more than an environmental issue,” said Chirawan, “It’s about our health, our future and the kind of world we want to live in.”

Chirawan joined UNICEF Thailand’s #CountMeIn campaign in 2024, using her voice to speak out on climate change and environmental issues that directly affect children and young people.

The videos explain how PM2.5, a fine particulate matter more than 25 times smaller than the width of a human hair, enters the body through breathing, travels deep into the lungs, and can pass into the bloodstream. From there, it reaches vital organs, including the lungs, heart, immune system, and developing brain.

Children are especially vulnerable. A child’s brain grows fastest from before birth through the teenage years. This is when children learn how to think, focus, control their emotions, and understand the world. When tiny pollution particles like PM2.5 enter a child’s body, they can reach the brain and harm this development, making it harder for children to learn and grow — with effects that can last their whole life.

The risk can begin even before a baby is born. When pregnant women breathe polluted air, PM2.5 can reach the unborn baby and affect how the brain and body develop. This increases the risk of babies being born too early, having low birth weight, facing learning problems, and developing serious illnesses later in life, including heart and lung disease and even cancer

An estimated 13.6 million children across Thailand are highly exposed to PM2.5, according to UNICEF’s Over the Tipping Point report in 2023. Globally, air pollution causes 700,000 deaths among children under five every year – that's nearly 2,000 children every day. This makes it the second leading risk factor for death in this age group after malnutrition, according to the State of Global Air report by the Health Effects Institute and UNICEF in 2024.

UNICEF urges families to take practical steps to reduce children’s exposure to air pollution, including staying indoors when pollution levels are high, wearing filtering masks when going outside, improving indoor air filtration where possible, and maintaining a healthy diet.

“I want to keep speaking out about the deadly impact of air pollution,” Chirawan added. I want the Government, businesses and decision makers to take this crisis seriously and protect children, families and everyone in society from toxic air.” Chirawan added.

Watch the video:

PM2.5 impact on children’s brain development [Download video]

PM2.5 impact on pregnant women and fetuses [Download video]

Originally published by UNICEF