Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on studies carried out by the (a) National Institute for Health Research and (b) NHS Health Protection Research Unit into the effects on human health of (i) PM1 and (ii) PM0.1.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department invests over £1 billion a year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR supports a wide range of work on the health effects of air pollution through various funding streams, including research on the impacts of fine particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5). The majority of research commissioned is focussed on a wide range of pollutants and unless otherwise stated, most studies have not differentiated between PM2.5, PM1.0 and PM0.1.
Information on the research projects commissioned and their findings are published by the NIHR in a dedicated journals library which can be found at the following link:
https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of air pollution on public health; whether they intend to introduce legislation to implement World Health Organisation standards for fine particulate matter; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government’s Clean Air Strategy recognised the impacts that air pollution has on health, and proposed a range of actions to meet our existing emissions reduction commitments to 2020 and 2030 in order to reduce these impacts. The Clean Air Strategy also committed to the setting of an ambitious long term air quality target to reduce the population’s exposure to PM2.5, and committed to publishing evidence on the feasibility of meeting World Health Organisation air quality guideline levels for PM2.5. This work is ongoing and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the effect of poor air quality on the level of demand on the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Secretary of State has regular meetings with his counterpart at the Department for Health and Social Care and they discuss air pollution and public health most weeks.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the safe level of exposure to (a) PM0.1, (b) PM1 and (c) PM2.5.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
It is not possible to determine, based on the currently available evidence, whether there is a safe level of exposure to particulate matter PM0.1, PM1 or PM2.5.
However, the World Health Organization has developed air quality guidelines for air pollutants. These guidelines can be viewed at the following link:
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of air pollution on public health; whether they intend to introduce legislation to implement World Health Organization standards for fine particulate matter into forthcoming legislation; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Our Clean Air Strategy recognised the impacts air pollution has on health, and proposed a range of actions to meet our existing emissions reduction commitments to 2020 and 2030 in order to reduce these impacts. The Strategy also committed to the setting of an ambitious long term air quality target to reduce the population exposure to PM2.5, and committed to publishing evidence on the feasibility of meeting World Health Organization air quality guideline levels for PM2.5. This work is ongoing and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of air pollution on public health; and whether they will legislate to introduce World Health Organisation air quality standards for fine particulate matter to protect the health of vulnerable people in the UK.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Our Clean Air Strategy (CAS) recognised the impacts that air pollution has on health, and proposed a range of actions to meet our existing emissions reduction commitments to 2020 and 2030 in order to reduce these impacts. The CAS also committed to the setting of an ambitious long term air quality target to reduce the population’s exposure to PM2.5, and committed to publishing evidence on the feasibility of meeting World Health Organisation air quality guideline levels of PM2.5. This work is ongoing and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2019 to Question 251249, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) reach and (b) effectiveness of its work to communicate with people vulnerable to the effects of air pollution during episodes of high pollution.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government does not assess the reach and effectiveness of its communication for each air pollution episode. However, we work closely with Public Health England and a network of health charities to ensure that key health messages reach those who are vulnerable to the effects of air pollution, during episodes of high pollution.
The Government has committed in the 2019 Clean Air Strategy to develop and deliver a personal air quality messaging system to inform the public, particularly those who are vulnerable to air pollution, about the air quality forecast and provide clearer information on air pollution episodes and health advice. This builds on the air quality forecasts and information already published on the Government’s UK-AIR website.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of air pollution-related illness to the NHS.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
Public Health England (PHE) estimated the potential health burden and costs to the National Health Service and social care system arising due to diseases related to air pollution. Between 2017 and 2025, the total cost to the NHS and social care of air pollution in England is estimated to be £1.60 billion for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) combined (£1.54 billion for PM2.5 and £60.81 million for NO2) where there is robust evidence for an association between exposure and disease. Where there is less robust evidence for an association, then the estimate is increased to an overall total of £2.81 billion for PM2.5 and £2.75 billion for NO2 in England between 2017 and 2025. The PHE estimation of costs to the NHS and social care due to the health impacts of air pollution report and tool can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-a-tool-to-estimate-healthcare-costs
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to include the effects on health of air pollution in the (a) Prevention Green Paper, (b) Environment Bill and (c) Road to Zero strategy.
Answered by Steve Brine
Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental threats to health. The Department’s prevention paper published in November 2018 sets out our ambition to improve air quality and is available at the following link:
The Department has been closely involved in the development of the Government’s plans to improve air quality, such as the Environment Bill and Road to Zero strategy, in addition to the recently published clean air strategy, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-air-strategy-2019
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2019 to Question 213200 on Air Pollution and with reference to p165 of the World Health Organisation report, Review of evidence on health aspects of air pollution – REVIHAAP Project, if his Department will conduct research into PM1 and PM0.1.
Answered by Steve Brine
Recent assessments have been undertaken of the health effects of long-term exposure to the air pollution mixture in the United Kingdom, but no separate assessments of the impact of PM1 and PM0.1 components (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 1 or 0.1 microns respectively) of particulate air pollution have been produced.
Public Health England (PHE) undertakes various air quality research projects, working with academic partners, to review the evidence of the health effects of air pollutants. In particular, regarding the health effects of PM0.1 and PM1, PHE has a research program that looks at various aspects of the health effects of PM0.1 (nanoparticles) through the inhalational route mainly focussed on manufactured materials. However, PHE has no plans to engage in work on the effects of PM1 particles on human health over the coming year.