§ Ms KellyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish the results of his investigation into the effects of opencast mining on health; and if he will make a statement. [77196]
§ Mr. HuttonThe study being undertaken at the University of Newcastle is funded jointly by the Department and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. The findings of the study will be reviewed at the Institute for Environment and Health at the end of March as part of an annual review of air pollution research contracts. The results will be made available as soon as the staff undertaking the work are happy that this should be done and publication in a peer reviewed scientific journal is likely. This work will form a part of a wider review of the effects on health of emissions of dust and other substances from opencast coal mining sites which is being prepared by the Department's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants. The Committee hopes to consider this subject at its meeting in October.