§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what studies have been done by his Department on the linkage of asthma and bronchial disorders to exhaust pollution in London; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Sackville[holding answer 18 October 1993]: I have been asked to repy.
The Department is funding a research project which will examine the effects of the December 1991 air pollution episode in London when the highest recorded peak of nitrogen dioxide occurred.
In addition, the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants which was established by the chief medical officer last year has set up a sub-group on asthma which will make recommendations on research relating to asthma and air pollution.
The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is 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. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my right hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State on 10 March at column 616, which stated that the MRC is sponsoring some research into factors contributing to the rise in asthma and has set up a working party to examine the aetiology of asthma under the chairmanship of Professor A. J. Newman Taylor. It is considering a range of possible contributory factors to current levels of asthma, including air pollution. The Department is represented on the working party and on the MRC committee on toxic hazards in the workplace and the environment, both of which will consider areas of need for further research.