Illegal levels of air pollution in Bristol could expose the city council to legal action it is feared.
Scrutiny councillors want to get a handle on residents’ respiratory health after being prompted into action by the mother of a nine-year-old girl in London who died from severe asthma after suffering three years of seizures.
Ella Kissi-Debrah’s mum Rosamund has applied to the High Court for a new inquest and wants the original findings quashed after evidence linked her death to illegal levels of pollution near their home in Lewisham.
The youngster died in February 2013 after becoming ill living near the South Circular Road where air pollution levels breached EU legal limits.
An inquest the following year concluded the cause of death was acute respiratory failure and severe asthma, but the coroner did not consider the impact of air pollution.
While no individual death in the UK has been directly linked to air pollution, it is considered to play a part in an estimated 300 deaths a year in Bristol, so the case has prompted the city’s adults, children and education scrutiny commission to investigate the issue.
Commission chairman Councillor Claire Hiscott said: “At full council, a statement was brought by some of the health professionals in the city, and, as a council, we have missed our deadline for an air quality plan twice.
“I am very mindful that air pollution is a public health issue and we cover public health.
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“What has focused my attention is that Lewisham Council will be facing an inquest about the death of a child from asthma and this has been brought forward as a case for saying that the air pollution in the area was a significant factor.
“That’s quite a serious position for the council to be in and it would be sensible for us to look at Bristol’s history and current state of respiratory health.
“It is really important that we understand where we’re at with respiratory health in the city — if it’s getting worse, if it’s static.”
Green Party group leader Councillor Eleanor Combley told the meeting on Monday, March 25, that the committee’s remit on air pollution should be broader than just transport and could include other contributors such as diesel generators and combined heat and power plants.
Members agreed to add the issue to its committee schedule as soon as possible.
