HC Deb 26 May 1999 vol 332 cc154-5W
Mr. Brake

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the studies his Department has funded since January 1998 to investigate the effects of pollution on health, with particular reference to pollution from(a) landfill sites, (b) factories and (c) exposure to chemicals in the home; and when these studies were or will be published.[84897]

Ms Jowell

This Department has carried out and commissioned a number of studies on the health effects of pollution since January 1998, many jointly with other Government Departments. The details of these studies have been placed in the Library. It is not the Department's policy to publish the findings separately, though researchers are encouraged to publish their findings in peer—reviewed journals and in the scientific press, on completion of the studies. The vast majority are disseminated in this way.

This Department, together with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions has co-funded an indoor air pollution research programme as well as research into the non-auditory health effects of noise and the health effects of chemicals in the environment. Together with the DETR and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), it has cofunded a programme of work on trends in male reproductive health and the possible influences of occupational and environmental chemicals. Also, together with DETR, HSE, the Scottish Office, the Welsh Office and the Department of Health and Social Services in Northern Ireland the Department contributes towards a contract with the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine to form the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU). SAHSU has also carried out research on the effects of air pollution on health, since January 1998.

The Department also manages the National Health Service research and development levy which is used to support research and development of relevance to the National Health Service in hospitals, general practice and other health care settings, and to fund the NHS research and development programme. In addition, the Medical Research Council—which receives most of its income via grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry—funds medical research as part of the Government's funding of the science and engineering base.

In addition to those projects listed, the Department expects to issue a major call for proposals on the effects of air pollution on health over the summer and a call for further research on the effects on health of landfill sites.

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