Air Pollution: Public Health

(asked on 18th May 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of urgency of the need for targets to protect public health from (a) outdoor and (b) indoor air pollution.


Answered by
Maria Caulfield Portrait
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This question was answered on 24th May 2023

Government has set two new targets for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) under the Environment Act 2021.These are, a maximum annual mean concentration of 10 micrograms per cubic metre by 2040, and a population exposure reduction target of 35% by 2040 compared to 2018.

To drive action on the PM2.5 targets in the short term Government has also set two interim targets in the Environmental Improvement Plan published in January, a maximum annual mean concentration of 12 micrograms per cubic metre by the end of January 2028, and a population exposure reduction target of 22% by the end of January 2028 compared to 2018

The Government has worked with internationally recognised experts to deliver the evidence to inform target setting. We continue to work with the UK Health Security Agency and our expert advisory groups, the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants and the Air Quality Expert Group, to develop the evidence base in relation to indoor air quality.

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