Urgent action is required to prevent further deaths caused by roadside air pollution, a Coroner has said following the case of nine year old Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah who died in 2013.
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Philip Barlow expressed concern that national limits for Particulate Matter are set at a level “far higher” than the World Health Organization guidelines. He also said there is low public awareness of the sources of information about pollution levels, such as the UK-Air website, and that an improvement would help individuals to reduce their exposure to air pollution.
In addition, the Coroner said the adverse effects of air pollution on health “are not being sufficiently communicated to patients and their carers” by medical and nursing professionals.
Philip Barlow sent the report to 14 organisations including the Department for Transport, the London Borough of Lewisham where Ella lived, Transport for London and the General Medical Council. Each has until 17 June to respond. An inquest into the death of Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah at the end of last year concluded that she died of asthma contributed to by excessive air pollution.
Environmental law charity ClientEarth’s lawyer Katie Nield said: “The Coroner’s report highlights that air pollution is still putting people’s lives at risk in the UK, eight years after Ella’s death and over a decade after legal limits should have been met.” She added: “Toxic air is clearly not going to disappear on its own. The Government needs to get its act together and explain what more it is going to do to prevent lives like Ella’s being cut short.”
A Government spokesman said: “Our thoughts continue to be with Ella’s family and friends. We are delivering a £3.8Bn plan to clean up transport and tackle NO2 pollution and going further in protecting communities from air pollution, particularly PM2.5 which is especially harmful to human health. We will carefully consider the recommendations in the report and respond in due course.”
A Lewisham Council spokesman added: “We accept the findings of the Coroner’s report and will respond in full in due course.”
Two in five respondents said traffic congestion around their school gates is a problem, with a further fifth expressing concern around the level of toxic car fumes.
(Photograph: Lana Elcova - Shutterstock)
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