CAMPAIGN UPDATE: 4 February 2010

Government says ‘there has not been a cover-up’ on air quality premature deaths

Government fails to: acknowledge importance of premature deaths as a key metric in communicating health impact of dangerous airborne particles to the public; or justify its slowness in updating crucial air quality statistics

‘Clean Air in London’ urges again Environmental Audit Committee to support call for government apology after failing to update, or covering-up of, over 250,000 premature deaths due to dangerous airborne articles over 10 years

‘Clean Air in London’ urges Mayor of London not to make the same mistakes

The government has written to the Campaign for Clean Air in London (CCAL), just days before the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) meets next Tuesday to take evidence as part of its inquiry into air quality, to say ‘there has not been a cover-up’ over air quality premature deaths. CCAL has published the government’s letter on its website with this Campaign Update.

The EAC has announced today it will take evidence from King’s College London and others.

Government makes its case for not updating premature death estimates since 1998

Simon Birkett, Founder of CCAL, said:

“We must welcome the government setting out, at last, its reasons for not updating estimates of premature deaths due to dangerous airborne particles since 1998. Justification is needed since the government has known since 2001 the health effects of long-term exposure are ‘considerably greater’ than the effects of short-term exposure that were quantified in 1998.

“In CCAL’s view, two points are particularly indefensible. First, the government’s persistent refusal to acknowledge the importance of premature deaths (aka ‘attributable’ or ‘brought forward’ deaths) as a key metric in communicating the health impact of dangerous airborne particles to the public. Its stance contrasts sharply, for example, with that of the European Environment Agency, the European Commission, the United States’ Environment Protection Agency and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Second, the government’s slowness in updating crucial air quality statistics.

“The government’s complacency is indefensible when 3,460 and up to 7,900 people are estimated by CCAL to have died prematurely due to dangerous airborne particles in London in 2005 alone. They may have died 9.8 years early on average.

“CCAL therefore calls again on the government to apologise for not warning the public, as it should have done, about the full extent of the health risks of poor air quality after its failure to update, or its ‘covering-up’ of, over 250,000 premature deaths due to dangerous airborne particles over 10 years. CCAL urges the EAC and others to support such a call.”

Further details of CCAL’s investigation are shown in the Appendix that follows.    more »