HC Deb 02 March 1995 vol 255 c693W
Mr. Ainger

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average annual concentration in nanogrammes per cubic metre at each of the Atomic Energy Authority monitoring sites for(a) vanadium (b) nickel.

Mr. Atkins

Airborne concentrations of trace elements are measured at five urban locations in the United Kingdom operated by AEA Technology. The most recent measurements available for nickel and vanadium are for the year 1992–93. The mean annual concentrations of nickel at the five sites were 14.3 ng m-3—nanogrammes per cubic metre—at Motherwell, 11.3 ng m-3 at Glasgow, 18.4 ng m-3 at Leeds, 11.4 ng m-3 at Brent, and 5.2 ng m-3 at central London. The mean annual concentration for vanadium at the central London site, the only site where vanadium is measured, was 12 ng m-3.

Ainger

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the health risk level accepted by his Department for ground level concentrations of(a) vanadium and (b) nickel in nanogrammes per cubic metre.

Mr. Atkins

My Department has no air quality standards for these substances but the World Health Organisation guidelines are as follows:

  • vanadium—1 nanogramme per cubic metre, averaging time 24 hrs;
  • nickel—4 X 10-4 cancer risk estimate for lifetime exposure to a concentration of 1 nanogramme per cubic metre.