FOI - Air pollution deaths in Enfield [Jun 2023]

Your request

The Mail Online published an article on the 16 June 2023 where it is quoted that approximately 164 people die prematurely of toxic air pollution a year in Enfield.

1. Is this an official line from the Mayor, City Hall and Transport for London?
2. Provide data to back up this claim of approximately 164 premature deaths in Enfield per year.
3. Show where this has been recorded on death certificates for any premature deaths due to toxic air pollution in Enfield.
4. Explain how this figure is reached.
5. What is the exact number of deaths in Enfield due to toxic air pollution and provide evidence for the given figure.

Our response 

Please see our answers to each question, in turn, below:

1. Is this an official line from the Mayor, City Hall and Transport for London?

Yes.

2. Provide data to back up this claim of approximately 164 premature deaths in Enfield per year.

In 2021, the GLA commissioned research from the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London to quantify the health burden of air pollution in London.

This research 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. The report includes a breakdown of life years lost (and the equivalent attributable deaths) in each of the London boroughs (Table 21 in the report).

• The full report is available here.

3. Show where this has been recorded on death certificates for any premature deaths due to toxic air pollution in Enfield.

The GLA does not hold information on death certificates for individuals.

In December 2020, Coroner Phillip Barlow ruled that a 9-year-old girl from Lewisham, South London died in 2013 as a direct result of air pollution, stating air pollution made a 'material contribution to her death'. This is the first time in the UK that air pollution has been listed as a cause of death on a death certificate.

Environmental factors that affect health like air pollution are not routinely included on death certificates for individuals, just as smoking is not routinely included on death certificates as a contributory factor for deaths from lung cancer or heart disease, even though smoking is a proven cause of premature death.

4. Explain how this figure is reached.

The researchers from the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London used the latest (2018) COMEAP recommended methodology for calculating impacts of anthropogenic PM2.5 and NO2. The full methodology is set out in the report, available at the link above.

COMEAP’s recommendations for quantification are a standard approach usually used in Government cost-benefit analysis of policies to reduce air pollution. Similar calculations of the mortality burden attributable to air pollution can be found elsewhere, including by the former Public Health England for estimating the mortality burden of PM2.5 in local authorities in the UK. 

5. What is the exact number of deaths in Enfield due to toxic air pollution? Provide evidence for the given figure.

Please see our response to questions 2 and 4.

If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting reference MGLA190623-0090.