Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of ultra fine particles from aircraft on the health of the population of (a) London and (b) the Home Counties.

Public Health England has made no assessment of the effect of ultrafine particles (UFP) from aircraft on the health of the population of London and the Home Counties.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Air Quality Expert Group published a report in 2018, which included a brief overview of the health concerns related to ambient UFP, but not specifically deriving from aircraft. The overview, which draws upon evidence reviewed by the World Health Organization and the Health Effects Institute concluded that there is currently limited evidence on the effects on health of UFP. The report can be viewed at the following link:

https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/reports/cat09/1807261113_180703_UFP_Report_FINAL_for_publication.pdf