Incinerators: Air Pollution
(asked on 8th February 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 the Answer of 5 February 2019 to Question 213202 on Incinerators: Air Pollution, with reference to the report entitled Ultrafine Particulates (UFP) in the UK, published by the Air Quality Expert Group by his Department in 2018, if he will make an assessment of the effect of ultrafine particles on human health (a) in and (b) outside of the vicinity of incinerators.
The Air Quality Expert Group Report on ‘Ultrafine Particles in the UK’ summarised current knowledge on the levels, sources and characteristics of ultrafine particles in the United Kingdom air; the report can be viewed at the following link:
https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/reports.php?report_id=968
An assessment on the potential health impacts of ultrafine particles was beyond the scope of this report.
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 reports are available to view at the following links:
https://www.healtheffects.org/publication/understanding-health-effects-ambient-ultrafine-particles
Public Health England has no plans to engage in work on the effects of ultrafine particles on human health in and outside the vicinity of incinerators.