Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of high levels of pollutants in food produced near waste incinerators in Europe; and whether they have any plans to conduct similar assessments in the UK.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has not made any assessment of reports on this subject and does not plan to conduct any such assessments in England.
The impact on food produced in proximity to waste incinerators is considered as part of environmental permitting regulations. The EA is responsible for deciding whether new incinerators in England should get a permit to operate. For each permit application it receives, the EA uses the results of air quality modelling and a human health risk assessment (HHRA) to determine the impact of the proposed incinerator.
The HHRA assesses impacts on the food chain. Impact assessments are very conservative and permit decisions are based on worst-case scenario impacts.
The EA also consults the UK Health Security Agency and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on every permit application it receives and will not issue a permit if the proposed plant could cause significant pollution or harm to human health, including via the food chain.
The FSA is responsible for the management of public health risks in relation to food. In general, the FSA considers that if incinerator facilities are correctly operated and monitored, with the appropriate level of emissions abatement, there should be no impact on the local area in terms of elevated levels of contaminants in soil and locally produced food. Measures are in place to manage the risk from chemical contaminants and keep levels as low as reasonably achievable through good practices and regulatory controls.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure minimal usage of helium in MRI scanners in NHS facilities in the light of the global shortage of helium; and what steps they are taking to ensure all helium in scanners being replaced is reused appropriately.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Suppliers of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners are moving to a sealed helium solution, whereby the helium required to cool the magnet is approximately 0.5% of the current levels. These sealed systems will also ensure MRI scanners do not require further helium to be added during years of operational use.
Furthermore, suppliers are now replacing MRI scanners without requiring the magnet to be replaced, though this is only available for the first replacement cycle, whereby the scanner is fully replaced, but the existing magnet and helium are retained.
With regards to the Department, as set out in the recent Medical Technology Strategy: One Year On publication, the Design for Life Programme has been stood up to work with industry, the health and care sector, and academic partners to develop medical technology systems that support reuse, remanufacture, and material recovery becoming the default. This includes developing regulatory, commercial, digital, and policy environments that support this aim. The Department’s intention is to publish a roadmap later this year to articulate our relevant findings and plans moving forward.