§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research she has promoted into the impact of high concentration ozone levels on human health in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe advisory group on the medical aspects of air polluton episodes considered the evidence on 223W the medical effects of exposure to ground level ozone in its first report which was published in August 1991. Copies are available in the Library.
The advisory group concluded that the ozone levels experienced in the United Kingdom, which are at their highest during hot weather, are unlikely to produce any permanent lung damage. The group made a number of recommendations for research, including basic research on the biochemical and cellular mechanisms involved in the effects of ozone on the lung; research on the effects of low concentrations of ozone upon man; and epidemiological studies on the possible relationship between exposure to air pollutants in general, and ozone in particular, on health. The Department has raised this with the Medical Research Council which receives its grant in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and is the main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research in the United Kingdom.