Air pollution a factor in death of 9-yr-old girl: UK inquest

LONDON: Air pollution contributed to the death of a London schoolgirl, a coroner ruled on Wednesday in a landmark case that could push Britain to get tougher on traffic and clean up city air. After a two-week inquest, coroner Philip Barlow said the death in 2013 of Ella Kissi-Debrah, aged 9, was caused by acute respiratory failure, severe asthma and exposure to pollution. “I will conclude that Ella died of asthma contributed to by exposure to excessive air pollution,” said Barlow from Southwark Coroner’s Court in south London. He said air pollution was a “significant contributory factor” that had exacerbated her asthma, with the principal source of her exposure being traffic emissions.
Under European Union laws, the annual average concentration level of nitrogen dioxide cannot exceed 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air (ug/m3) — a target Britain has missed for a decade.
The coroner said Kissi-Debrah’s mother, Rosamund, was not informed of the health risks of air pollution, otherwise she would have taken steps to prevent her daughter’s death. “Today was a landmark case, a 7-year fight has resulted in air pollution being recognised on Ella’s death certificate. Hopefully this will mean many more children’s lives being saved,” she wrote on Twitter. Kissi-Debrah’s family had pushed for this, a second inquest, arguing that an initial hearing in 2014 failed to consider air pollution as a possible cause of her death. They said there was evidence to link Kissi-Debrah’s hospital visits to illegal air pollution near her home in south London.
Campaigners and legal experts said the verdict could push the British government to get tough on air pollution. REUTERS