Tragic, a 9-year-old girl died of a fatal asthma attack, and the British coroner ruled that excessive air pollution from traffic fumes contributed to the death.
The girl is believed to be the first person in the U.K. to have air pollution listed as the cause of death on their death certificate on Wednesday.
The girl named Ella Kissi-Debrah, who lived close to one of London’s busiest thoroughfares, died in February 2013 after making almost 30 hospital visits over the previous three years.
Her mother has long fought to have the role of air pollution in her daughter’s death recognized.
Coroner Philip Barlow said Wednesday after a two-week hearing that he concluded Ella “died of asthma, contributed to by exposure to excessive air pollution.”
Three years before her death, the girl was exposed to levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter that exceeded World Health Organization guidelines and shown the failure to reduce the pollutants to within the limits set by European Union and U.K. law.
