Air pollution ‘made material contribution to Ella Kissi-Debrah’s death’, coroner finds

Mother Rosamund: ‘This was about my daughter… but it’s also about other children’
Ella Kissi-Debrah inquest
Ella Kissi-Debrah
PA

A nine-year-old London schoolgirl died after being exposed to high levels of air pollution which politicians had failed to tackle, a coroner has ruled in a landmark verdict.

Ella Kissi-Debrah died in February 2013 after repeated hospital visits and severe asthma attacks. The youngster had been exposed to air pollution which exceeded legal limits in her daily life around her south London home.

Assistant Coroner Philip Barlow today delivered damning findings for politicians at national and local level, saying the young girl could possibly have been saved if more had been done to tackle the problem.

“Air pollution was a significant contributory factor to both the induction and exacerbation of her asthma”, he concluded.  

“During the course of her illness, she was exposed to levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter in excess of World Health Organisation guidelines.  

“The principle source of her exposure was traffic emissions.  

“During this period, there was a recognised failure to reduce levels of nitrogen dioxide to within limits set by the EU and domestic laws, which possibly contributed to her death.  

“Ella’s mother was not given information about the health risks of air pollution and potential to exacerbation of asthma.  

“If she had been given information, she would have taken steps which might have prevents Ella’s death.”

After the ruling, her mother Rosamund Kissi-Debrah said she had been surprised by the “decisive” and “comprehensive” ruling, urging governments around the world to take notice of the landmark decision. 

“There needs to be a whole education about air pollution and exposure to air pollution”, she said.

“I still think there’s a lack of understanding about the damage it does to young lungs, especially that are not truly formed. That does bother me.

Ella Kissi-Debrah inquest
Rosamund Kissi-Debrah outside court after the end of the inquest 
PA

“I would rather, going forward, we do a public awareness campaign, teach the population about the damage air pollution is doing, rather than a blame game.

“The messages need to be very clear, they need to be concise and very clear.”

Ms Kissi-Debrah said she wants her daughter’s legacy to be a new Clean Air Act, adding: “I’m not just talking about the UK Government – governments around the world to take this matter seriously.”

She added: “This was about my daughter, getting air pollution on the death certificate which we finally have, and we’ve got the justice for her which she so deserved.

“But also it’s about other children still as we walk around our city of high levels of air pollution.”

Ella’s family home was close to South Circular road, which she walked along and cross regularly.

The coroner said he had “no difficulty” finding she was exposed to high levels of pollution, saying: “The whole of Ella’s life was in close proximity to highly polluting roads.”

This is the first time air pollution has been recorded as a cause of death in the UK, and the coroner said he was going further than normal in his conclusions due to “overwhelming public interest” in the issue.

The inquest examined an “alarming disconnect” between the risk of air pollution known to scientists and the lack of knowledge in the past by GPs, as well as a stark absence of public health awareness campaigns.

Mr Barlow also highlighted the decision in 2010 by then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson to delay by 18 months the extension of the Low Emission Zone.

Referring to that decision and other government policies and priorities, the coroner said: “Opportunities were not taken that would have had an impact on improving air quality in London.”

Ms Kissi-Debrah, fought for years for a new inquest, determined to show that her daughter’s death was a sign of a wider public health emergency that needed tackling.

She told the hearing the family would have moved home if she had been warned of the air pollution dangers.

The coroner is now set to receive submissions from parties including the government, the Mayor of London, Transport for London, and Lewisham Council on a prevention of future deaths report.

He has the chance to make a series of recommendation of actions that should be taken to tackle the air pollution issue. Experts have said up to 40,000 early deaths a year in the UK could be blamed in part on air pollution.

Ms Kissi-Debrah previously told the Standard she wants her daughter’s inquest to “provide a template for change so the government and councils have to sit up and listen”.

“This won't bring my daughter back but I want there to be a lasting legacy for change”, she said.

The coroner recorded the cause of death as acute respiratory failure, severe asthma, and air pollution exposure.

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