§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of excess deaths that occurred in each period of excessive photo-chemical fog in each of the past five years. [35026]
§ Mr. HoramA recent study by Professor Ross Anderson, a member of the Department of Health's committee on the medical effects of air pollutants—COMEAP—has shown that day-to-day variations of ozone concentrations are, during the wanner months of the year, related to daily mortality figures. It is not possible, however, to provide a precise estimate of the excess deaths produced by exposure to these pollutants during recent years.
The Department of Health has recently established a sub-group of COMEAP with the specific objective of improving estimates of the size of the effects of air pollutants on health in the United Kingdom. An initial report is expected in 1997.