Air pollution affects people’s health before their birth and throughout their lives. This includes through contributing to low birth weight, cardiovascular diseases, asthma and other respiratory diseases, lung cancer, and dementia. Human-made air pollution is estimated to cause between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths in the UK every year.
Poor air quality disproportionately impacts children, particularly those who live in the most deprived areas. Exposure to air pollution is the second leading risk factor for death in children under five, in the UK and globally. Whilst air quality in the UK has improved significantly in recent decades, more can and should be done to reduce levels of the most harmful pollutants.
The Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill is also known as "Ella's Law". This is in memory of nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah who became the first person anywhere to have air pollution listed as a cause of death.
If passed, the bill would require the Government to act to bring air quality in every community up to the minimum World Health Organisation (WHO) standards and establish the right to breathe clean air as a basic human right.
The FPH, RCPCH, and BACAPH encourage the Government to take this opportunity to improve the quality of our air and safeguard health.
RCPCH Officer for Climate Change, Dr Helena Clements, said:
"Air pollution is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK, with children being particularly vulnerable. Evidence of the broader impact of air pollution on children’s lives is becoming increasingly clear showing it is likely a significant driver of poverty and widening health inequalities with emergency admissions for asthma strongly associated with deprivation and poverty.
Ella’s Law represents a vital step toward protecting the health and wellbeing of all children. As paediatricians, we are united in our commitment to ensure that no child should ever suffer as Ella did. Now is the time for our political leaders to make that same commitment."
FPH President, Professor Tracy Daszkiewicz, said:
"Clear evidence shows us that exposure to fine particulate air pollution has a devastating effect on our health, particularly for children and those who are already vulnerable.
Too many people in the UK are exposed to unsafe air, and human-made air pollution is now responsible for tens of thousands of deaths every year.
This legislation offers a real opportunity for progress and promises to save lives across the UK by setting new air pollution limits, making legally binding commitments to meet them, and recognising clean air as a right for all."