Air pollution directly affects cognition in elderly individuals, German researchers said at the 2015 meeting of the American Thoracic Society, after analyzing data on the link between impaired lung function and cognitive decline. What are some other health risks from air pollution? Click through to find out. (ThinkstockNadofotos)

China’s battle with air pollution continues: Recently, the country released new guidelines for dealing with its super smog.

Still, the effects on the country’s population are becoming more apparent. Most recently, an 8-year-old girl became China’s youngest lung cancer patient, according to the South China Morning Post.

(ABOVE: Cancer, Asthma and Other Ways Air Pollution Hurts)

The girl, from the province Jiangsu, lived by a busy road that increased her exposure to dust and particles. Doctors claim inhaling these particles contributed to her development of the cancer.

Cities inJiangsuhave been severely impacted by haze in the past month, the original report fromPeople’s Dailystated. Other cities across China have also faced public health crises due to heavy air pollution.

InHarbin, airports and schools were recently closed due tothick smog blankets, according to CNN. The city’s monitoring stations found concentrations of the dangerous airborne particles, PM2.5 — the possible cause of the girl's cancer, according to doctors.

Earlier this year, researchers found that air pollution was responsible forshorter lives in northern China. Shortly after that report came out, the Chinese government promised to spend $275 billion over the next five years tofight the air pollution problem.

The World Health Organization just officially labeled air pollution a carcinogen. It's connected to more than 220,000 lung cancer deaths a year, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lung cancer has been the mostcommon cancer in the world for several decades; it's also the top cause of cancer deaths, according to the WHO's 2008 statistics, the most recent year for which data is available.

In children, however, research has mostly found a link between air pollution and asthma, allergies and respiratory infections.