FOI REF: FOI-2023-1383
You asked
Could you please inform me of the number of deaths that have been recorded in the UK during the past 20 years, that were as a direct result from air pollution.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. This is driven by information collected from death certificates at death registration. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland. Therefore, we do not hold the requested information for the whole of the UK. If you wish to obtain this information for Scotland and Northern Ireland, NRS and NISRA can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.
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 until the coroner has concluded the investigation. Following the conclusion of the coroner's inquiry, as second updated death registration is sometimes provided to include any new information found about the cause of death.
Deaths where air pollution was a contributing factor are coded to International Classification of Diseases, tenth revision (ICD-10) code Z581. Taking in to account these updated registrations, we currently have 1 death registered between 2004 and 2023 where Z581 was mentioned on the death certificate.
It may be more informative to consider epidemiological studies which estimate numbers or proportions of incidence and 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.