Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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
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 (PM2.5) and are published in the UK Health Security Agency Chemical Hazards and Poisons Report (2022), which is available at the following link:
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.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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
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, PM2.5, for 2019, in each region as a percentage.
Region | 2019 |
East Midlands | 7.4 |
East of England | 7.6 |
Greater London | 8.8 |
North East | 4.9 |
North West | 6.2 |
South East | 7.2 |
South West | 5.9 |
West Midlands | 7.3 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 6.6 |
England | 7.1 |
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.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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
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, PM2.5, 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.
Fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution | Year | |||
Region | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Greater London | 9.0 % | 8.8 % | 7.1 % | 6.5 % |
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 (a) emissions, (b) concentrations, (c) human exposures, (d) health impacts and (e) death outcomes when referring to air pollution in health statistics.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
When referring to air pollution in health statistics, emissions is the term used to describe the gases and particles that are released into the air or emitted by various sources, for example road transport. The concentration of a specific air pollutant is the amount of material per unit volume of air. Concentrations are most commonly expressed as mass per unit volume (for example, micrograms per cubic meter, µg/m3). Human exposure refers to any contact between an airborne contaminant and a surface of the human body, either outer, for example the skin, or inner, for example the respiratory tract. Health impacts are negative changes in health resulting from exposure to a source of pollution, such as exacerbation of asthma, increases in respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions and mortality.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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
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.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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
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.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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
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, PM2.5 for 2018 to 2021, in each region as a percentage.
Region | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
East Midlands | 6.7 | 7.4 | 5.2 | 5.6 |
East of England | 7.6 | 7.6 | 5.8 | 5.5 |
Greater London | 9.0 | 8.8 | 7.1 | 6.5 |
North East | 5.2 | 4.9 | 4.0 | 4.8 |
North West | 5.9 | 6.2 | 5.0 | 5.3 |
South East | 7.7 | 7.2 | 6.0 | 5.4 |
South West | 6.1 | 5.9 | 5.2 | 5.1 |
West Midlands | 6.8 | 7.3 | 5.4 | 5.5 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 6.1 | 6.6 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
England | 7.1 | 7.1 | 5.6 | 5.5 |
Note: