Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of particulate matter emissions on (a) health and (b) life expectancy.

Short-term variation in exposure to particulate matter can cause respiratory and cardiovascular effects and cause mortality. Long-term exposure to particulate matter can cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer, leading to reduced life expectancy. Effects also include adverse birth outcomes, cognitive decline and dementia.

It is predicted that between 2017 and 2035 in England, 1,327,424 new cases of disease will be attributable to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), equivalent to 2,248 new cases of disease per 100,000 people over the same time period.

It is estimated that long-term exposure to air pollution from PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide in the United Kingdom results in an annual effect equivalent to 29,000 to 43,000 deaths for adults aged 30 and over.