Air Pollution
(asked on 28th January 2019) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his Answer of 15 October 2018 to Question 174612, Air Pollution, as the COMEAP study to which he refers was carried out in 2012, if he will (a) ask that body to conduct a further study on the effects of particulate air pollution on mortality in the UK and (b) will ensure that such a new study includes PM0.1 and PM1.
Recent assessments have been undertaken of the health effects of long-term exposure to the air pollution mixture in the United Kingdom, based on studies reporting associations of mortality risk with fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which includes PM1 and PM0.1, and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). No separate assessments of the impact of the 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. The recent Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants assessment is available to view at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nitrogen-dioxide-effects-on-mortality
The reviews by the Health Effects Institute and World Health Organization of the effects of different components of air pollution, including ultrafine particles (PM0.1), concluded that there is currently limited evidence on the effects on health of ultrafine particles. These reviews are available at the following links:
https://www.healtheffects.org/publication/understanding-health-effects-ambient-ultrafine-particles
Currently, Public Health England has no plans to engage in work on the effects of PM1 and PM0.1 particles on human health.