Our Air
A project about air pollution in London and it’s damaging effects on the health of children
Funded by Wellcome Centre and WHO
In February 2013, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi Debrah 's 9 year-old daughter Ella, suffered a fatal asthma attack, which was sparked by air pollution near her home in Catford, close to the South Circular Road.
Ella developed asthma 2 years earlier when she was 7 years old and despite over 30 emergency hospital visits due to her asthma, nobody suggested that the cause of her attacks was air pollution.
Since Ella’s death, her mother Rosamund fought and succeeded in having her be the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as cause of death. Ella’s Law, which aims to enshrine the human right to clean air has passed in the House of Lords and now heads to the Commons to be scrutinised by MPs.
Rosamund is now a full-time campaigner for clean air, she is the World Health
Organization advocate for health and air. She wants those responsible for poor air quality to be held accountable. Her goal is increase awareness on the dangers and prevalence of air pollution so that the general population wont be willing to continue to put up with breathing harmful air on a daily basis.
“I was exposed to a lot of air pollution during pregnancy. I walked along traffic filled roads and worked in central London every weekday where the levels of particulate matter are extremely high. I didn't realise then how harmful air pollution was to the unborn child. Research now shows that particles of pollution are found in placentas and foetuses. When my son was 18 months old he began to have serious and frequent asthma attacks, many of them leading to stays in a high dependency unit at hospital. The treatment for these attacks was intense and traumatic.
Asthma is in our family but neither myself or my son's father have it, and no one else in the family has been hospitalised by it. On my son's third admission to hospital the respiratory consultant told us that air pollution exacerbates asthma among young children and advised us to stay away from traffic filled roads.
It's difficult to put into words how much this has affected our life, only those really close to us can see the extent. For a long time I wasn't able to work because my son had so many medical appointments and was sick so much. He has had steroids alot which has impacted his growth. So far this year he has missed weeks and weeks of school. Asthma also affects sleep because the symptoms, intense coughing and wheezing, wake you up at night. I hate to think that the place that we live in is having a negative impact on our health and worry about it all the time. I wish that he could breathe clean air more than anything. Why do we, as a society, put up with breathing toxic air everyday? This needs to change urgently if this generation of children has a chance at growing up healthily. All the scientific evidence is there, air pollution is contributing to a multitude of diseases.”
Ruth, Hornsey
“My children are 3 and 6 years old. They now cough throughout the year, and these are not colds. This is what local GPs call a ‘Tower Hamlets cough’ — essentially, a pre-asthmatic condition that is widely spread. Many of my kids’ friends have asthma and have to rely on inhalers and avoid busy roads at all times.”
Marina, Limehouse
"Education is key, not just at a patient level, but in schools, and as an integral part of medical education. We need to talk about pollution, in clinic, in school, in the media. It needs to be seen as everyone’s issue, not just those that get the health effects.
I hope that the measures being proposed by the government and local government help (remove diesel vehicles, clean air zones etc.) but they are not the whole answer and we need to be proactive now to prevent the issues just getting worse."
Abigail Whitehouse, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Children’s Environmental Health and Honorary Paediatric Respiratory Consultant.
"Tower Hamlets has some of the worst air pollution in the country. We are lucky to live just off the main road on a cul-de-sac but it’s not ideal and I am very concerned for my children. I suspect my middle son has some respiratory problems but he hasn’t been assessed yet."
Mel, Bethnal Green
“We have a family history of asthma and several families who attend the same school as my kids also struggle with respiratory conditions. Children in Tower Hamlets alone have up to 10% less lung capacity than the national average due to air pollution. That's not an acceptable statistic.
Tower Hamlets is a Borough with relatively low car ownership less than 50% but has very high vehicle volume on the roads as people drive through the Borough to access other parts of the city. The Council sent out flyers when my eldest started school with 'how to avoid the smog' advice on which roads to avoid because they have toxic levels of fumes- says it all really.”
Sophie, Bow
"There are a high number of cars (in my neighbourhood - Tower Hamlets). I see families who live locally choose to drive to school where in fact they can easily walk either use other forms of transport.
I have family members who have in the recent years been suffering from sinusitis, asthma, bronchitis aswell as lingering coughs. I have also noticed there are more children within my friends and family network who are suffering from those illnesses. I strongly believe the level of pollution in the air has an impact in these health conditions."
Salma, Poplar
"There is no escaping the sound and smell of the A12 alongside our house and I think about it (the adverse effects of air pollution on my daughter) when we are out in the garden as there is no escaping the air. It scares me that her life expectancy could be impacted negatively by air pollution."
Fiona, Bow
“Sophia had asthma as a child and was in hospital with bronchitis a couple of times. It was worrying but she got through it with some herbal remedies. I'm concerned about the air pollution leaving her at risk of lifelong breathing disorders and a shorter life span
Urban growth produces worsening air quality - schools if not already, should encourage more environmental studies.”
Kat, Finsbury Park
"The outside world is loud and demanding. The reduced traffic on Old Bethnal Green Road has effectively helped my son's sensory overload and the streets are a whole lot safer to travel for the children."
Shaheena, Bethnal Green
"Yusuf is 9 years old and suffers from asthma. When the air pollution is high his asthma gets triggered. We live right next to a main road and you can’t even open the window without the dust constantly making the furniture in our property dirty. So I’m constantly cleaning for the fear that this will effect Yusuf.
I fear the air quality is really bad in my neighbourhood. We should be collectively doing more! For example people could be walking to schools for drop off and pick up instead of using the car."
Shahina, Bow
"Everyone I know in London (is affected by air pollution) – neighbours, family, friends, my community and the families living in the borough I work for (Tower Hamlets) as well. I know they are at risk of the detrimental effects of pollution being significantly higher than the WHO levels. Me and my children are very aware of the smell, taste and sight of traffic pollution as we live, go to school on and work on main roads unfortunately.
I would like to see an expansion of the congestion zone, school streets for all schools, the Silvertown tunnel cancelled, 20 mph limits enforced throughout urban areas and more roads being redesigned into Street Parks. I would also like to see Parking for private vehicles restricted and much more done with the space it currently takes up, such as parklets, bike storage, rain gardens and even play spaces.
I would like children to feel and be safe to scoot and cycle all over the city, particularly in Whitechapel where I work and air quality/noise pollution from roads and traffic danger is extreme. In lots of parts of London 70% have no car yet this doesn’t feel reflected in the design of the roads and pavements we are using every day."
Frances, Dalston
“The quality of the air we breathe has been a concern of mine for a long time. My father worked in an urban “dirty job” and like many other working-class men his lung health suffered due to high levels of inner-city pollution. I want something better for my grandson. But in London the streets where many of us live, walk, shop, and wait for buses are now more polluted than ever.”
Clair, Dalston
My daughter who is 20 months has to use an inhaler. We don't know if it's asthma yet as they can't check until she's 4 or 5 but she needs it when she has a bad cough and she does get out of breath when she's running around a lot. Is this exasperated by air pollution? I don't know, but I can't see it helping.
There needs to be a mental switch in the public who use their cars. ULEZ and Congestion Charge don't seem to do a great deal as people just pay it. I'm not a fan of the no car streets (LTNs) either as it just pushes traffic onto other roads.
People simply need to drive less or use electric cars. A prime example is school pick up time, most schools round us have less than a mile catchment area - you could easily walk that. So why are people driving? There is excellent public transport in London, literally so many options. It would be better for the adults and children's health to get the exercise let alone less pollution."
Jennifer, Poplar
"My children are my absolute world and I’ll do what it takes to protect them, but what power do I have being surrounded by a poisonous cloud of air pollutants that I cannot see or control?
I whispered promises to my unborn babies that I’d always keep them safe whilst unknowingly breathing in invisible poisons as they grew inside me, that’s the consequences for being black and living in south London.
I take my children to outdoor local spaces to connect with nature and to improve our wellbeing and seek escapism, yet the trail of air pollution follows us. Ella Kissi Debra’s death from air pollution reminds me that our children are the most vulnerable, but how many people know her name? What keeps her memory alive and never forgotten?
I love the culture and community of London but I don’t like the silent killer that float’s amongst us all and threatens our lives and it’s the only reason I dream of leaving this city one day.
Growing up in south London and in a predominantly black neighbourhood it’s troubling to come to the realisation that no matter your vulnerabilities, no matter what goodness you invest into your community, where you live is always going to be the government’s choice to use as a main pathway and dumping ground for the most dangerous air toxins to pass through. Education and awareness is fundamental for there to be any positive change."
Cece, Peckham
"Air pollution does not discriminate. However, the areas we live, work, school and subsequently breath does discriminate. Black Londoners are 3x more likely to breathe illegal levels of air pollution because of these very reasons, and disproportionately suffer the negative health outcomes associated with toxic air as a result … Our children should not be subjected to a postcode lottery for clean air. Clean air should be a human right for all."
Agnes Agyepong, founder and CEO of Global Black Maternal Health, mother of Imara (pictured)