§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the additional risk of a child in the United Kingdom developing(a) skin cancer and (b) eye cataracts as a result of ozone depletion; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SackvilleI refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 19 October 1992 at column80.
Estimates of skin cancer based solely on an estimate of ozone depletion would be misleading. The same points apply to any estimate of eye cataracts.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to extend the present three UV-B monitoring stations to a nationwide regional network in order that people can be given burn-time warnings on days when there is a high incidence of UV radiation; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SackvillePlans are underway to extend the monitoring network set up by the National Radiological Protection Board in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of the terrestrial solar UV levels over United Kingdom latitudes.
Earlier this year, the United Kingdom Health Departments asked the independent Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment, COMARE, to advise on the adverse health effects of ultraviolet radiation. COMARE noted that there can be seasonal variations in solar UV levels and short-term variations due to cloud and local weather which are far in excess of any variations anticipated as a result of ozone
Number of letters sent Percentage sent within target Average response time 1 January 1991 to 31 December 1991 18,001 60 28.8 1 January 1992 to 25 October 1992 13,801 76 20.2