Health experts to discuss ways to stop people dying from pollution at Hackney scrutiny meeting

Banning traffic from school streets at drop-off and pick-up times is one part of the council’s plan to improve air quality. Photograph: Hackney Council

Health experts will discuss ways to reduce the number of people dying from harmful pollution at a health scrutiny meeting in Hackney tomorrow.

Dr Ian Mudway, senior lecturer in public health at Imperial College, is set to talk about the impact of nitrogen dioxide and particulates on lungs, and the effect of pollution on mental health, at the Health in Hackney commission.

Traffic, heating and burning solid fuels contribute most of London’s air pollution, with more than 40 per cent of nitrogen dioxide caused by road transport.

Researchers at Imperial College estimate that poor air quality contributed to the deaths of between 3,600 and 4,100 Londoners in 2019. This includes around 90 people in Hackney,  or 8.7 per cent of deaths in the borough.

In December 2020, a landmark coroner’s ruling found that nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah from south London died from acute respiratory failure, severe asthma and air pollution exposure – the first time in the UK that air pollution was listed as a medical cause on a death certificate.

Dr Mudway is investigating the impact of pollutants on the development of lung and cognitive function in children living in towns and cities.

According to a Greater London Authority (GLA) report this year, pollutant readings near all schools in Hackney exceed World Health Authority guidelines for nitrogen dioxide and small particulates from traffic, known as PM2.5, but do not breach UK legal limits for nitrogen dioxide.

The GLA said people can help combat air pollution by ditching the car and taking public transport, walking or cycling instead.

Hackney Council’s air quality action plan includes creating school streets, creating low emission streets on five Shoreditch roads, and greening up its own fleet of vehicles.