15 May The breathless generation: How London’s air pollution is endangering children across the capital
As the annual death toll rises to its thousands, are the city’s youth suffering the most from this public health disaster?
Ella Kissi-Debrah was 9 years old when she suffered a fatal asthma attack in February of 2013. An appeal to reopen the inquest into her dead is underway, after the release of a new report linking her premature death with the unlawfully high levels of pollution around her South London home.
The report, conducted by one of the UK’s leading asthma specialists, Professor Stephen Holgate, found that there was a “striking association” between spikes in her area of airborne pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and her emergency room admissions.
This inquest may set an important precedent for similar cases across the UK, as currently; no individual deaths have been directly linked to air pollution.
According to Asthma UK, children who live in high pollution areas are much more likely to have reduced lung function as adults. Research suggests that children ages 8-10 who grow up in these areas may have up to 10% less lung capacity, with signs that this damage may be permanent.
Air pollution affects the development of respiratory system in numerous and potentially irreversible ways. Source of data: https://www.unicef.org/publications/index_92957.html
In a statement from human rights lawyer Jocelyn Cockburn, the legal representation for Ella’s family, she lambasts the UK government’s lack of meaningful action on the issue. She says: “The government has willingly presided over illegal EU air quality limits since 2010 and this ongoing failure is costing lives”.
Poor air quality is classified as the biggest environmental risk to public health, according to a 2018 government report. The UK has consistently breached EU air quality regulations, resulting in the European Commission instigating legal proceedings against the British government and 5 other countries.
Beth Gardener is a London based environmental journalist and author of Choked: The Age of Air Pollution and the Fight for a Cleaner Future. She explains: “Air pollution affects us in very profound ways and in an enormous variety of ways. Its not just lung and breathing problems, but every part of our body is touched by the air we breathe.”
Findings from a study published earlier this year found that air pollution is responsible for 8.8 million premature deaths globally, surpassing deaths caused by smoking by a considerable margin.
In a 2016 statement, Mayor Sadiq Khan spoke on the crisis: “This is now a matter of life and death, and the government has one last chance to put it right”
The Low Emission Zone (LEZ) was brought into effect in 2008 to discourage larger diesel vehicles from entering the capital, with the intention on reducing levels of harmful particulates across London. Despite these measures being put in place by Khan, studies on their effectiveness have shown little measurable change to air quality or public health.
When asked on her thoughts on the LEZ, Gardener said: “Khan would be the first to say that its not enough, this is not a problem one city can solve on its own… the solutions go beyond the powers that a mayor has. We need action from the central government and the European Union.”
Environmentalist groups have expressed fears that the crisis is only set to worsen post-Brexit, with the proposed replacement environmental watchdog lacking the legal power to take the government to court over regulatory breaches.
An example of these groups is Paint London Green. Their group aims to deliver a campaign focused on bringing the issue of London’s filthy air to the forefront of public attention. You can watch a snippet of their launch film below.
With levels of airborne particulates in the capital rising every year, the health of young people in London is set to worsen unless immediate and drastic changes are made to the way that we tackle air pollution in our cities.
For further information on the global issue of air pollution, visit: http://www.paintlondongreen.journalism.london/
To watch the full Paint London Green campaign film, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G6jDiZNOoI&t=1s
