Coroner’s call for clean air targets is a win for my tragic Ella
THE tearful mother of a schoolgirl killed by pollution has welcomed a coroner’s call for legally-binding air quality targets.
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said Philip Barlow’s report demanding tougher controls is an achievement in memory of nine-year-old Ella – but it will also help “everybody”.
She said: “For all [Ella] suffered, she has done good.
“We’ve achieved what we started out to achieve and I said to people that if Ella wins then everyone else wins, and she’s won for today.
“I am incredibly proud of [Ella] and how she fought so, so hard. I want all of us today to thank her.
“What the coroner has also recommended is very important and he has made it incredibly clear that unless his recommendations are implemented people will continue to die.” Ella – who lived near the busy South Circular Road in Lewisham, south-east London – had severe asthma and died in 2013 after being exposed to high levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter pollution.
An inquest last year found the pollution “made a material contribution” to her death. The ruling was a legal first in the UK.
The Government is under pressure to adopt legal limits for particulate matter in line with World Health Organisation guidelines.
Campaigners said that legallyenforced cleaner air rules could help prevent thousands of deaths. Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, said Ella’s tragedy had “shone a bright light” on the need for the Government to tackle toxic air urgently. She said children, the elderly and the 6.5 million people in the UK with respiratory disease are all at risk.
She added: “If the Government follows the recommendations in this report...this would be a game-changer, potentially preventing thousands more families facing the death of a loved one because of air pollution.”
The Daily Express Green Britain Needs You campaign calls on politicians and the public to do their bit to tackle toxic air.
Particulate matter from dust and smoke – produced by industry, engine emissions and home heating – can enter the bloodstream after lodging in lungs.
About 40,000 deaths in Britain each year are linked to air pollution, a study found in 2016.
Mr Barlow’s report called for more details about the impact of air pollution to be made available and urged medical professionals to raise awareness of its dangers so patients cut their exposure.
A Defra spokeswoman said the Government’s environment department would “carefully consider the recommendations.
“Through our landmark Environment Bill, we are also setting ambitious new air quality targets, with a focus on reducing public health impacts.”