§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the hazards of bio-aerosol production in and around commercial compost-making facilities. [2826]
§ Angela EagleI have been asked to reply.
My Department has commissioned and evaluated two research projects on composting of which, amongst other things, considered bio-aerosol production: Composting of Waste Derived Fines Rejects at Castle Bromwich (CWM/081/93) and Municipal Waste Composting (CWM/074/93). The bio-aerosol results within the latter report were published separately as Airborne Micro-organisms Associated with Domestic Waste Composting (WSL-LR 808(MR)). These reports are 542W available from the Waste Management Information Bureau, AEA Technology plc, F6 Culham, Oxfordshire OX14 3DB, telephone number 01235 463162.
Research funded by the Health and Safety Executive, which is sponsored by my Department, has also addressed bio-aerosol product from composting plants. The results were incorporated in two publications: "Domestic waste composting plants as sources of airborne micro-organisms", by B. Crook, R. P. Bardos and J. Lacey in Aerosols, their Generation, Behaviour and Applications, Proceedings Second Aerosol Society Conference, London: The Aerosol Society, 1988; and "Microbial emissions from composts made for mushroom production and from domestic waste" by J. Lacey, P. A. M. Williamson and B. Crook in Composting and Compost Quality Assurance Criteria, Luxembourg, Office for Official Publications of the European Community, EUR14254, 1992.
In addition, research being carried out for the Environment Agency, which is funded by my Department, has been monitoring bio-aerosol production at three commercial composting sites, although the results have not yet been published.