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.
Apr. 25 2024
Source Page: UK condemns environmental damage caused by Russia's war: UK statement to the OSCEFound: These strikes have also resulted in air, water and soil pollution.
Written Evidence Apr. 25 2024
Inquiry: Devolution of employment supportFound: Environmental Factors: Environmental issues such as air pollution, inadequate housing conditions
Apr. 25 2024
Source Page: Regulatory Horizons Council: the Future Regulation of Space TechnologiesFound: s about 1 00 km above sea level (the Kármán line ) – an im aginary boun dary.30 At this altitude, air
Apr. 25 2024
Source Page: Regulatory Horizons Council: the Future Regulation of Space TechnologiesFound: pollution analysis
Apr. 25 2024
Source Page: Scottish Government Planning Guidance - Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoodsFound: This can help to cut emissions, improve air quality, and encourage the repurposing of land to create
Mentions:
1: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Lab - Life peer) Rail passenger services that offer times competitive with air are essential to reduce the need for internal - Speech Link
2: Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab - Life peer) What a nonsense.The response of the wider is public is perfectly understandable: drive by car, add to air - Speech Link
3: Lord Moylan (Con - Life peer) Transport also brings pollution, which is not the purpose of transport but simply a negative unwelcome - Speech Link
4: Lord Davies of Gower (Con - Life peer) It focuses on the rapid development of technologies in a way that maintains the benefits of air travel - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Sarah Dyke (LD - Somerton and Frome) it—is burned in UK incinerators, which are often located in deprived neighbourhoods, producing toxic air - Speech Link
2: Robbie Moore (Con - Keighley) pushing for an ambitious outcome and an effective UN treaty to end plastic pollution by 2040. - Speech Link
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (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 that the proposed WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty, due to be considered by the 77th World Health Assembly in May, will include provisions to improve indoor air quality.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom welcomes the Pandemic Accord as an opportunity to strengthen global health security. Improving indoor air quality remains an important issue in public health. However, as the Accord aims to establish a high-level framework for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, we have pursued action on this specific issue in other multilateral settings.
The UK continues to support international improvements to indoor air pollution through its engagement with the World Health Organization (WHO). For example, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) contributed to WHO projects in 2020 and 2022 to assess combined exposure to multiple chemicals in indoor air in schools. UKHSA continues to work with the International Society on Indoor Air Quality and Climate on the development of an open database on international indoor environmental quality guidelines. The database aims to be actively used by researchers, practitioners, and policymakers across the world.
Moreover, the UK was a strong advocate for action to improve indoor air quality at last year’s United Nations General Assembly. We worked with international partners on this issue during the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage. The UK was supportive of reference being made to the health impacts of indoor air pollution, which was subsequently adopted in the meeting’s political declaration on 5 October 2023, and is available on the United Nations website in an online-only format.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help reduce air pollution.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has delivered significant reductions in emissions since 2010 – with emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) falling by 24%, and nitrogen oxides down by 48%. We met our targets to reduce emissions for all five key pollutants in the latest reporting year.
Our Environmental Improvement Plan sets out how we will continue to drive down emissions from domestic burning, agriculture, transport, and industry – delivering cleaner air for all.
PM2.5 is the most harmful pollutant to human health, which is why we have set two new targets to drive down PM2.5 concentrations under the Environment Act 2021:
These targets mean that on average, people’s exposure to particulate matter will be cut by over a third by 2040, compared with 2018 levels.