More than 100 British doctors have called on the Prime Minister to launch an urgent plan to drastically reduce deadly and ‘alarming’ levels of air pollution, including ‘taking action’ on wood-burning stoves.
Home heaters, which are now popular in middle-class households, are reportedly one of the biggest contributors to harmful air pollution in UK cities.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, doctors warn that the toxins released when burning wood are an “invisible killer” and are responsible for 38,000 premature deaths a year.
These pollutants have also been linked to a range of lung and heart problems, including asthma and delayed lung development in children.
In addition to taking action against wood stoves in cities and towns, the doctors suggest a number of other ways to combat pollution. One example is improving infrastructure so that more people can walk and cycle instead of driving.
According to a 2022 report, wood stoves are estimated to cause up to 38,000 premature deaths each year
Ella Kissi-Debrah, nine, died in 2013 after three years of seizures and 27 visits to hospital for treatment of breathing problems
Domestic combustion, including wood burning, was responsible for a third of total PM2.5 emissions in the UK in 2021. They are airborne particles that are invisible to the human eye but can enter the blood and travel deep into the lungs.
This is more than what cars produced, according to The Time.
According to the ‘London Wood Burning Project‘.
The letter, organized by the action group Driving for their livescalls for greater efforts to reduce air pollution that contributed to the death of Ella Kissi-Debrah at the age of nine. She is the first person in the world to have air pollution listed as the cause of death on her death certificate.
While the letter does not call for an outright nationwide ban on wood stoves, many health care professionals want them banned in urban areas.
“Cost-effective, rapid solutions include measures to eliminate solid fuel burning in homes where reasonable alternatives exist and a genuine transformation to an environment where people can actively travel to work and school,” the group of health care professionals said in the letter.
“One possible measure would be for the government to educate people about the health risks of wood-burning stoves,” Heather Lambert of Ride for Their Lives told The Times.
Pollution levels in London often exceed recommended limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and PM2.5 – airborne particles that are invisible to the human eye but can enter the blood and penetrate deep into the lungs.
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah warned ‘Air pollution is an invisible killer’ after her daughter’s death
Medical professionals stressed that pollution leads to reduced fertility, harms the lungs of fetuses, increases the number of miscarriages and also results in smaller and more premature babies.
They added that it may contribute to neurological decline and said the role of air pollution in stroke and dementia is now well established.
A 2021 coroner’s report found that air pollution contributed to Ella Kissi-Debrah’s death.
Ella, from South East London, suffered a fatal asthma attack in 2013 after being exposed to excessive air pollution from cars.
She lived just 25 metres from a notorious pollution hotspot on the busy Southern Ring Road in Lewisham, south-east London – one of the capital’s busiest roads.
Between 2010 and 2013, she had multiple attacks and was hospitalized nearly 30 times.
She was later rushed to hospital after suffering from a coughing fit, but she repeatedly lost consciousness and eventually died in February 2013.
Ella’s mother, Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, said: ‘Air pollution is an invisible killer. You can’t see the damage it’s doing to your body or your children’s bodies.’
Environment Secretary Steve Reed said he would deliver on the goals of the Environment Act, which includes cutting PM2.5 pollution by 2040.
The target requires that the annual average concentration by then does not exceed ten micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre.
This follows the expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to all London boroughs last year in a bid to further reduce pollution levels.
Air pollution is known to cause lung cancer. While smoking remains the biggest risk factor for the disease — which kills 34,800 people in the UK each year — outdoor air pollution is responsible for around one in 10 cases.
It is estimated that 6,000 never-smokers die from lung cancer each year in the UK, some of which may be caused by exposure to air pollution.
