The Black Child Clean Air Conference, held on Clean Air Day 2025, has drawn fresh attention to the pressing issue of racial inequalities in exposure to indoor air pollution across the UK. Organised by Agnes Agyepong, founder of the Black Child Clean Air Campaign, the event highlighted the disproportionate impact of poor indoor air quality on Black children and families, particularly those living in low-income, urban areas marked by overcrowded and poorly ventilated homes near busy roads.

Speaking to The Voice, Ms Agyepong emphasised that air pollution is not just an environmental concern but also a matter of racial and maternal health justice. She underscored the urgent need to stop blaming individual behaviours, such as those of mothers, and instead address the systemic failures that subject Black and low-income families to hazardous living conditions. “Cold, damp homes are making our children sick,” she said. “Why are we quick to warn pregnant women about diet and alcohol, but stay silent on toxic air? Lives are on the line.” This framing aligns with calls to recognise the broader socio-economic and racial dynamics that exacerbate health risks from environmental hazards.

The conference convened a diverse group of policy leaders, public health experts, and lived-experience campaigners, including Labour MPs Diane Abbott and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, healthcare professionals from Imperial College London, and air quality specialists from the Greater London Authority. Ribeiro-Addy notably declared, “The right to clean air shouldn’t rely on race, economics or postcode,” capturing the event’s focus on environmental racism and housing inequality as key drivers of health disparities.

Central to the discussions was the stark reality that Black Caribbean and Black African communities in London experience higher levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) pollution—commonly exceeding EU legal limits—heightening risks of asthma, developmental problems, and chronic respiratory diseases in children. Debbie Obafemi, Air Quality Manager for the Greater London Authority, reaffirmed ongoing commitments by the Mayor of London, including supporting further research into indoor air quality, lobbying for enhanced local authority powers to tackle pollution, and strengthening collaborations with the NHS to shield young Londoners from air-related health harms.

The conference brought renewed focus to a landmark case that epitomises the deadly consequences of air pollution: the death of nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi Debrah in Lewisham, London. Following her fatal asthma attack, a 2020 inquest ruled that excessive exposure to air pollution was a contributing factor—the first such ruling in the UK to list air pollution as a cause of death. Ella’s mother, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi Debrah, has since become a vocal advocate for greater awareness and action, highlighting how toxic air environments disproportionately impact Black children.

While the inquest’s findings marked a turning point, the complexities involved in attributing individual deaths directly to pollution have sometimes been contested, particularly amid political debates such as those surrounding the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in London. Some anti-ULEZ campaigners have misrepresented the case to argue against pollution controls, though public health experts consistently reaffirm the substantial evidence linking air quality to respiratory illness and mortality.

Globally, Ella’s case has resonated as a catalyst for stronger environmental health policies. The United Nations Environment Programme noted the potential for the inquest to bolster international efforts to combat air pollution, especially in marginalized communities where environmental racism intersects with public health. Black communities, as highlighted by multiple reports, often bear the brunt of toxic air due to systemic inequalities – including inadequate housing, proximity to major roads, and limited political power to drive change.

The Black Child Clean Air Conference underscores that tackling indoor air pollution is inseparable from confronting broader issues of social justice, racial equity, and housing policy. For meaningful progress to be made, experts and campaigners stress that governments must prioritise policies that address these intertwined factors, ensuring that every child, regardless of race or postcode, can breathe clean and safe air.

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Source: Noah Wire Services