§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide the most recent figures on levels of ozone and nitrogen dioxide in Britain and each other country in the European Union. [28584]
§ Mr. AtkinsThe most recent figures on levels of ozone and nitrogen dioxide are available as part of the Department of the Environment's air quality bulletin service. Information from the national automatic monitoring sites is used to provide air quality bulletins to the public, giving daily information on these and other air pollutants in both urban and rural areas across the United Kingdom via a freephone helpline, Ceefax, Teletext and a variety of other news media. The bulletin includes information on levels of pollutants together with a forecast and health advice on what to do should levels become high. The Ceefax and Teletext bulletin services have recently been upgraded and now provide hourly updates on nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide and benzene and 1,3—butadiene. In addition, information from the Department's non-automatic and automatic monitoring sites is published regularly.
Information on levels of pollutants in other European countries is not held centrally.