FOI REF: FOI/2023/4922
You asked
How many deaths were recorded as being caused by poor air quality in Inner London?
How many deaths were recorded as being caused by poor air quality in Outer London?
With the results, please confirm the year of death, their age, profession and whether there were any other medical conditions?
we said
Thank you for your enquiry.
We are responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales, this is driven by information collected from the death certificate at death registration.
Causes of death are certified in most cases by a doctor, who records the sequence of medical conditions and relevant events leading to, or contributing to, the death, based on the deceased's healthcare records and other available information, such as laboratory tests or post-mortem investigation. Some deaths are certified by a coroner who determines the causes of death following an inquest, based on all the available evidence.
It is unusual for wider contextual factors such as exposure to pollution or air quality to be recorded among the causes of death. One death in England and Wales in the period 2001 to 2021 had exposure to air pollution (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth revision (ICD-10) code Z581) recorded on the death certificate. Unfortunately, for this individual, we are unable to confirm any further details, including their age, profession, and other medical conditions. Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) renders it a criminal offence to release personal information. Personal information is any information held by the Board (ONS) for statistical purposes that would identify an individual, including those who are deceased. As disclosure is prohibited by another enactment, Section 44(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.
It may be more informative to consider epidemiological studies which estimate numbers or proportions of deaths which can be attributed to exposure to pollution or poor air quality. A number of reports have been published by Public Health England (now the UK Health Security Agency) on different aspects of air pollution and health.
If you would like to discuss this enquiry further, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk.