Key information
Request reference number: MGLA020823-3356
Date of response:
Summary of request
Your request
As the Mayor has posted on line about children in hospital fighting for their last breath,
I assume from illnesses bought on by pollution and not because of other medical issues,
I would like to know where he got his facts, figures and numbers from. I wish to
know how may there are fighting for their last breaths?
Our response
The GLA has commissioned research to estimate the health burden of air pollution in London.
In 2021, the GLA commissioned updated research from the Environmental Research Group
(ERG) at Imperial College London. This report found that in 2019, in Greater London, 61,800 to 70,200 life years lost (the equivalent of between 3,600 to 4,100 attributable deaths) were estimated to be attributable to anthropogenic fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), assuming health effects exist even at very low levels.
In 2022 the GLA published a report commissioned from the ERG that provided a modelled
estimate of the impact of air pollution in London on hospital admissions for asthma between 2014 – 2016 and between 2017 – 2019. The report found that across all age groups poor air quality led to around 1,700 London hospital admissions for asthma and serious lung conditions.
If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting
reference MGLA020823-3356.