§ 75. Ms. GordonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether nitrogen dioxide levels in central London exceeded World Health Organisation and European Economic Community guidelines in November 1987; and what has been the trend in nitrogen dioxide levels in central London over the last decade.
§ Mr. MoynihanThe World Health Organisation's recommended guidelines for hourly and daily nitrogen488W dioxide levels, given in the WHO regional publication "Air Quality Guidelines for Europe", European Series No. 23, were exceeded in central London on 29 and 30 November 1987. The Department has asked the Warren Spring laboratory to examine its records of nitrogen dioxide levels in central London over the last decade. The laboratory reports a slight downward trend in annual means but no discernible trend in peak values.
The European Community directive (85/203/EEC) gives guidelines, expressed not in monthly terms but in terms of the calender year, and results in any individual month cannot be compared with them.