A London coroner ruled today that air pollution was a factor in the death of Ella Kissi-Debrah, a nine-year old girl living with asthma who was exposed to nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter (PM) pollution in excess of World Health Organisation guidelines, the main source of which were traffic emissions. Cheltenham Green Party demanded that the borough council start taking some action to tackle air pollution in the town.
Tabi Joy, speaking on behalf of the Greens said:
"The results of this inquest have been almost seven years in the making. That’s seven years of pain for Ella’s family and friends. It’s impossible to tell how many other people have died, or will die, from the consequences of air pollution – how many lives will be touched by a health crisis we can solve.
“It’s something that our councils can change. They have a legal responsibility for addressing health issues in our environment, and it should not be the responsibility of the people at risk to advocate for their own safety.
“We can clearly see that children and elderly people, people with existing health conditions or chronic illnesses, those living in high-traffic areas in town centres, and people from Black and Asian communities who tend to face inequalities of healthcare and housing – all of whom are statistically most likely to die of the effects of air pollution – will continue to suffer from our communal lack of diligence in making better futures for everyone.”
Tabi added: "This isn’t an issue isolated to big cities. It’s here on our doorstep – on our pavements, on our driveways. The last Air Quality Action plan for Cheltenham expired in 2019, coming up to nearly two years ago. Where’s the new plan which should have come into force this year?
"The council promised at a cabinet meeting in January 2020 that it would start measuring particulates for the first time, through some new AQ Mesh Pod monitors. Science has shown that particulates can cross the blood-brain barrier, causing heart disease, cancer, brain damage. When will the data from particulate measurements in Cheltenham be published?
"The council said at the same time that they would start measuring Nitrogen Dioxide levels in real time. When will this data be shared with the public?
"Air pollution levels for both nitrogen dioxide and particulates are at illegal levels in parts of Cheltenham, and if we are slow to address this, we will pay the price in residents’ health. Independent measurements by the Parish Council in Leckhampton show that the levels of particulates (PM2.5) in a suburb of town are averaging above the World Health limit. The council's own measurements of Nitrogen Dioxide show average levels past the legal limit in the centre of town. This is an urgent crisis. Yet nothing meaningful is being done.
"We can’t wait another seven years for action. We need immediate commitment. We’ve lost lives. We’ve done the research. We have the data, even if it's not being widely shared.
“Please work with people across Cheltenham to help uplift all of us."
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Further information:
contact: Tabi Joy
Tabi.Joy@cheltenham.greenparty.org.uk
Background information
Cheltenham Borough Council Nitrogen Dioxide data
The council measures average monthly Nitrogen Dioxide levels through diffusion tubes at various sites in town.
The latest published data is for 2019, full year data for 2020 is not yet available.
2019 data shows illegal levels at 3 sites.
Cheltenham Borough Council claims that Nitrogen Dioxide levels are improving...
The council stated at the January 2020 cabinet meeting that NO2 levels were falling. This is not the case.
The table and chart below compares NO2 levels, as measured by CBC's diffusion tube monitors, at 8 sites across the town, over the period 2011 to 2019.
The 8 sites shown have not been 'selected' in any way – they are the only 8 sites that CBC has consistently monitored over the last 9 years. We have also shown the average reading of the 3 diffusion tubes sited at St Georges Street/Swindon Rd, where they are co-located with the reference monitor. This site has only been producing full data since 2013.
Figures highlighted in red are above the annual 40 ug/m3 legal limit.
The 9 monitoring sites given above are broadly in the town centre. It isn't possible to look at air quality trends in other areas of the town, as CBC has not consistently monitored locations outside the town centre over the last 9 years. But this data clearly does not support the conclusion that there has been 'steady improvement' and a 'generally positive trajectory' in air quality in Cheltenham.
We can see the essentially static levels of air pollution in the town centre by looking at the average readings across the 8 sites for which there is full data for the 9 year period. (Data for the 3 co-location sites only exists for 7 years.)
The variance between 2011 and 2019 is only 1.2 ug/m3 NO2 – around 2.9%. This is within the margin of error of diffusion tube sampling.
Bear in mind also that 12 out of the 72 data points (8 sites x 9 years) have some months where data is missing.
When looking at pollution data, DEFRA stresses that it is important not to look at a single year in isolation due to the influence of weather conditions.
The data shows that the average town-centre NO2 levels for 2011 and 2017 were identical. There was a dip in 2018, but this almost been completely reversed in 2019.
Given the margin of error in diffusion tube monitoring, the issue of missing data from some of the monthly sampling, and the possible influence of weather conditions, the only conclusion is that air pollution levels in Cheltenham have remained broadly static over the last 9 years.
It is impossible to conclude from the data that there has been a 'slow but steady improvement in air quality'. A much more accurate statement would be that air quality has been essentially unchanged over the last 9 years.
