Found: “Remember me”: Ella’s law would be fitting legacy after London air pollution death, says mother.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities data on D01 - Fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution (new method), if she will publish the annual number of deaths attributable to long term exposure to total concentrations of fine particulate matter for each year that data is available.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The estimates for the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution, measured as PM2.5, are published every year. Data for 2022 will be published later this year. The fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution indicator represents the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 and older attributed to PM2.5.

Annual numbers of deaths attributable to particulate air pollution are not calculated each year. The published estimate for England for 2019 was 26,000 to 38,000 deaths for adults aged 30 and over. For the United Kingdom, the published estimate for 2019 was 29,000 to 43,000 deaths for adults aged 30 and over.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to publish the annual estimate of the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution in 2022.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Department plans to publish the annual estimate of the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution for 2022 for England in the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF) in early 2024 which can be found at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2023 to Question 183300 on Air Pollution: Death, what the evidential basis is for his Department's calculation of the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution since the overall number of attributable deaths is not available.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

An estimate of deaths attributable to long-term exposure to air pollution can be made by multiplying the fraction of mortality attributable to air pollution by the total number of deaths annually. The fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution is estimated through the adjustment of the unit relative risk factor (1.08), recommended for use in quantifying mortality associated with long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (COMEAP, 2022), to the air pollution levels.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2023 to Question 183301 on Air Pollution: Death, if he will provide (a) a worked calculation and (b) weblinks to references to show how the number of deaths attributable to nitrogen dioxide in 2019 was calculated.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The most recent estimates, in 2019, of mortality burden associated with air pollution are published in the UK Health Security Agency Chemical Hazards and Poisons Report (2022), which is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1083447/CHaPR_AQ_Special_Edition_2206116.pdf

The methodology used to calculate burden estimates, including nitrogen dioxide, is described in the article ‘Updated mortality burden estimates attributable to air pollution’ in the report and is based on the method described by the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants. ‘Associations of long-term average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide with mortality’ (2018) report is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nitrogen-dioxide-effects-on-mortality

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181817 on Air Pollution: Death, if he provide a worked calculation and weblinks to references of how the number of deaths in Greater London attributable to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was calculated from the fraction of mortality in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020 and (d) 2021.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

We do not have the information in the format requested. UK Health Security Agency has not calculated the number of deaths attributable to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) for the years requested. The following table shows the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution, measured as PM_2.5, for Greater London in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. The provided values represent the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 years old and older. Estimates are currently available until 2021.

An estimate of deaths attributable to long-term exposure to air pollution in a local area can be made by multiplying the above attributable fraction by the total number of deaths annually in the local area. This represents the effect of air pollution across the whole population, as air pollution is considered to act as a contributory factor to many more individual deaths.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 20 of the UK Health Security Agency report entitled Chemical hazards and poisons report, Issue 28, published in June 2022, how many attributable deaths there were in (a) East Midlands, (b) East of England, (c) Greater London, (d) North East, (e) North West, (f) South East, (g) South West, (h) West Midlands, (i) Yorkshire and the Humber and (j) England for nitrogen dioxide NO2 in 2019.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The numbers of attributable deaths due to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) for the listed areas have not been calculated. The most recent estimates of mortality burden associated with exposure to air pollution in the United Kingdom take into account exposure to the air pollution mixture of NO₂ and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and are published in the UK Health Security Agency Chemical Hazards and Poisons Report (2022), which is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1083447/CHaPR_AQ_Special_Edition_2206116.pdf

The burden of long-term exposure to air pollution in 2019 in the UK was estimated to be an effect equivalent to 29,000 to 43,000 deaths for adults aged 30 years old and over.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 20 of the UK Health Security Agency report entitled Chemical Hazards and Poisons Report, Issue 28, published in June 2022, how many attributable deaths there were in (a) East Midlands, (b) East of England, (c) Greater London, (d) North East, (e) North West, (f) South East, (g) South West, (h) West Midlands, (i) Yorkshire and the Humber and (j) England for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in 2019.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The information is not held in the format requested. The following table shows the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution, measured as fine particulate matter, PM_2.5, for 2019, in each region as a percentage.

The numbers of attributable deaths have not been calculated; the provided values represent the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 and older.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2023 to Question 181820 on Air Pollution: Death, how many adult deaths there were from (a) heart disease, (b) stroke, (c) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (d) lung cancer and (e) dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in Greater London in each year since 2016.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

UK Health Security Agency has not calculated the proportion of adult deaths related to these outcomes due to air pollution in Greater London. However, the following table shows the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution estimates, measured as fine particulate matter, PM_2.5, as available in English Local Authorities and regions annually. The methods and data inputs were updated in 2018, therefore estimates for Greater London are provided in the table below from 2018 until 2021. Estimates are available before 2018 but are not directly comparable.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether attributable deaths is an alternative term used for premature deaths when referring to deaths caused by air pollution.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Long-term exposure to air pollution is understood to contribute to the risk of dying from certain conditions. The annual number of attributable deaths associated with long-term average concentrations of pollutants is not an estimate of the number of people whose untimely death is caused entirely by air pollution. Instead, it is a way of representing the effect of air pollution across the whole population.

In public health, ‘premature deaths’ is usually used to refer to deaths that occur before the average age of death in a population, before the age of 75 years old. This is not the same as ‘attributable deaths’, which represent the total mortality effect across the whole population, including those over 75 years old. It is likely that deaths attributable to air pollution will be disproportionately influenced by deaths at older ages, such as from cardiovascular and respiratory disease.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the difference is between attributable deaths referring to air pollution and deaths reported on death certificates.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Long-term exposure to air pollution is understood to contribute to the risk of dying from certain conditions. The annual number of ‘attributable deaths’ associated with long-term average concentrations of pollutants is not an estimate of the number of people whose untimely death is caused entirely by air pollution. Instead, it is a way of representing the effect of air pollution across the whole population.

Causes of death on death certificates record the sequence of medical conditions and relevant events leading to, or contributing to, the death, based on the deceased's healthcare records and other available information, such as laboratory tests or post-mortem investigation. Generally, it is unusual for wider risk factors, such as exposure to air pollution, to be recorded among causes of death.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people died from air pollution in (a) East Midlands, (b) East of England, (c) Greater London, (d) North East, (e) North West, (f) South East, (g) South West, (h) West Midlands, (i) Yorkshire and the Humber and (j) England in each year since 2018.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman Parliamentary Question of 19th April is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of all adult deaths in England in 2019 from (a) heart disease, (b) stroke, (c) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (d) lung cancer and (e) dementia and Alzheimer's disease were caused by air pollution.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman Parliamentary Question of 19th April is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people died from air pollution in (a) England and (b) North Ireland in each year since 2017.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman Parliamentary Question of 19th April is attached.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many attributable deaths there were from fine particulate matter, PM2.5, were there in (a) East Midlands, (b) East of England, (c) Greater London, (d) North East, (e) North West, (f) South East, (g) South West, (h) West Midlands, (i) Yorkshire and the Humber, and (j) England in each year since 2018 using COMEAP's 2022 methodology.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The information is not held in the format requested. The following table shows the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution, measured as fine particulate matter, PM_2.5 for 2018 to 2021, in each region as a percentage.

Note:

1. The numbers of attributable deaths are not calculated, the provided values represent the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 and older.
2. Estimates are currently available until 2021.

Found: BBC News: Air pollution death ruling: What comes next?