We need national guidance for clinicians on the inclusion of air pollution on death certificates, argue Laura-Jane Smith, Mike Tomson, and Kath Brown
Air pollution is often framed as a modern problem, but as early as Roman times it was understood that polluted air affects human health. In AD 61, Seneca wrote of Rome “No sooner had I left behind the oppressive atmosphere of the city and that reek of smoking cookers … than I noticed the change in my condition.”1 In AD 535, emperor Justinian declared clean air a right of all humans: “By the law of nature these things are common to mankind the air, running water, the sea.”2 But it took until July 2022 for the United Nations to declare access to a clean and healthy environment a universal human right.3 In the UK, the Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill, also known as Ella’s Law, is a private members’ bill which would enshrine in law a right to clean air. At the time of writing, the bill is awaiting its second reading in the House o