Request ID: FOI-1790-2324 Date published: 13 September 2023
You asked
id like to freedom of information evidence about people dying from car pollutions
the mayor likes to say 4000 people are dying every year from cars, so in the last 3 years thats 12000 deaths , please could you show me the evidence that so many people are dying because of cars , the only thing i can find is a study from emporial college did a study on modelled data etc a city like London not London and that said AIR pollution n leads to premature deaths ... premature by days to a week , please can you provide the evidence for the past 3 years that 12000 REAL people in London (thats 4000 a year) have died because of car emissions ,
We answered
TfL Ref: 1790-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 29 August 2023 asking for information about the statement made by the Mayor regarding air quality.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold the information you require. You asked for:
evidence about people dying from car pollutions
the mayor likes to say 4000 people are dying every year from cars, so in the last 3 years that’s 12000 deaths , please could you show me the evidence that so many people are dying because of cars , the only thing I can find is a study from Imperial College did a study on modelled data etc a city like London not London and that said AIR pollution leads to premature deaths ... premature by days to a week, please can you provide the evidence for the past 3 years that 12000 REAL people in London (that’s 4000 a year) have died because of car emissions
The statistic relating to 4,000 deaths is taken from the following report:
The report was commissioned by City Hall and undertaken by Imperial College and it is based on the report finding that ‘in 2019, in Greater London, the equivalent of between 3,600 to 4,100 deaths were estimated to be attributable to air pollution, considering that health effects exist even at very low levels. This calculation is for deaths from all causes including respiratory, lung cancer and cardiovascular deaths’. The report goes into detail as to how the statistic was calculated and provides a breakdown by borough in the summary tables.
The forecast number of deaths that would be prevented by London-wide ULEZ is set out in Chapter 6.2 of the Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA). You may also want to look at the Air Quality Health Impact Assessment (AQHIA) which can be found in Appendix A of the IIA. Link to the IIA is here:
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Jasmine Howard FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
