HC Deb 06 May 2004 vol 420 c1779W
Dr. Stoate

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of occupational asthma there were in(a) the United Kingdom and (b) England in each of the last five years. [170236]

Jane Kennedy

Information on estimated numbers of new cases of occupational asthma reported in Great Britain, and in England by consultant chest physicians and occupational physicians in each of the last five years for which data are available is in the table.

Occupational asthma: estimated number of cases reported by chest physicians and occupational physicians, 1998 to 2002
Great Britain England
1998 808 665
1999 1,128 887
2000 785 688

1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–041
Pipeline defect 12 15 7 6 10 12 4 7
Release of flammable substance 58 63 55 45 33 3.1 26 36
Release of other substance 112 91 84 80 62 74 57 48
Totals 182 169 146 131 105 117 87 91
1 (provisional only)
Note:
Information is not readily available prior to 1996–97 and the statistics include all reported chemical releases.