§ Sir Graham BrightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the costs to public funds of(a) health care and (b) clean-up measures from pollution from diesel vehicles. [28178]
§ Mr. ClappisonDiesel vehicles emit a number of pollutants. Of these the pollutant most strongly linked with health effects is particulate matter less than 10 microns across—PM10. During winter episodes in most major United Kingdom cities the dominant contribution of primary PM10 comes from road traffic, notably from diesel-powered vehicles, increasing from about a quarter to in excess of 70 per cent. It is difficult to estimate precisely the effects on health of particles from diesel vehicles. Healthy individuals are unlikely to be affected by levels of PM10 found in ambient air in the United Kingdom. However, there is growing evidence of a link between PM10 and premature mortality, hospital admissions and ill-health in those with pre-existing heart or lung conditions.
Pollutants from road traffic, including diesel vehicles, have other environmental impacts, for instance soiling of buildings caused mainly by particulate elemental carbon. It has been estimated' that in the financial year 1990–91 the UK stone cleaning market had a value of £79 million. 1 Mansfield T (1992) Sources of Building Soiling and a Review of the Stone Cleaning Industry 1991, International Conference on Stone Cleaning, Edinburgh.
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§ Sir Graham BrightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what powers local authorities have to set pollution limits for vehicles used to undertake local authority services. [28179]
§ Mr. ClappisonStatutory emission limits for new vehicles and for those in service are set by the Secretary of State for Transport and approved by Parliament. Local authorities have no special powers to impose different limits. It would be a matter for a local authority should it wish to set separate conditions for vehicles undertaking a local service, provided these did not breach compulsory competitive tendering requirements.
§ Sir Graham BrightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many airborne particulates monitoring sites there are in the United Kingdom; [28180]
(2) what are the current levels of airborne particulates as measured in the United Kingdom. [28181]
§ Mr. ClappisonThere are currently 22 sites in the Department of the Environment's national automatic monitoring network which measure fine particulate matter—PMlO. A further 26 PM10 monitors will be added to the network by the end of 1996, bringing the total number of PM10 sites to 48. The Department also, in co-operation with local authorities, monitors particles in the form of smoke at 225 sites throughout the UK.
In 1995, the annual average mean concentration of PM10, measured at the 16 national automatic urban monitoring sites in operation, ranged from 20 to 28 microgrammes per metre cubed. The maximum 24 hour running average concentration at the same sites ranged from 68 to 395 microgrammes per metre cubed. The average annual average concentration of smoke at 225 sites between April 1994 and March 1995 was 9 microgrammes per cubic metre. The maximum daily average smoke concentration during this period ranged from 9 to 263 microgrammes per cubic metre.
Current concentrations of PM10 from the national automatic monitoring network are updated hourly on the Internet (http://www.open.gov.uk/doe/doehome.htm).