Key information
Request reference number: MGLA030323-1677
Date of response:
Summary of request
You request
The Mayor continually tells the public that 4,000 people for each year due to pollution caused by car emissions and that children get stunted lungs also as a result.
- Where does the Mayor get this information from as I have been unable to find it or verify it?
- How many people in the past 20 years have had 'air pollution resulting from internal combustion vehicle emissions' or anything directly related to air pollution caused by internal combustion vehicles as the cause of death on their death certificate?
- Has Sustrans or any of its offshoots and subsidiaries received any funds from Transport for London (TfL) or from City Hall over the past 20 years?
- If the answer to question 3 is 'yes', then what is the breakdown of funds paid and dates involved and the beneficiaries?
Our response
The information you have requested in relation to parts 1 and 2 has previously been responded to.
Studies have long shown the many adverse health issues associated with elevated pollution levels. A 2022 authoritative evidence review continued to show the health impacts of traffic pollution, especially asthma in both children and adults.
Previous analysis has shown that London’s air pollution was estimated to lead to around 700 asthma hospital admissions from 2017 to 2019 in children in London, 7 per cent of all asthma admissions in children in London, and to around 900 asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) admissions from 2017-2019 in the elderly in London.
The growing health evidence now links air pollution to dementia, shows how air pollution causes lung cancer in non-smokers and found particulate air pollution in unborn babies.
Please find below a list of payments made to Sustrans. TfL is the Mayor's transport authority and is responsible for implementing the Mayor's Transport Strategy, and for the day-to-day operational running of transport services. They are a separate public authority for the purpose of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. You may wish to send a further request to TfL at [email protected]
Relevant links are provided below:
- Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Selected Health Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution
- Health Impact Assessment of Air Pollution on Asthma in London
- Air pollution: cognitive decline and dementia
- Cancer rules rewritten by air-pollution discovery
- Maternal exposure to ambient black carbon particles
If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting
reference MGLA030323-1677.