§ Mr. LivseyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what research his Department has(a) undertaken and (b) commissioned to determine the radioactivity levels and isotopic composition of PM10s or dust particles with a diameter of less than 10 microns. [105582]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 20 January 2000]Radioactivity in the air is monitored for the DETR by contractors managed by the Environment Agency. As part of this programme, there is a network of high volume air samplers around the UK in which the particles in the air, including PM10s, are drawn onto the air filter papers and the long-lived radioactivity associated with those particles is measured. The Environment Agency publishes the results of this "fall-out" monitoring programme annually in "Radioactivity in the Environment".
It is known that the main radioactive species attached to PM10s in the air are short-lived decay products of the naturally occurring radioactive gas radon, which are addressed in the Government's radon programme.
Since 1987 some 400,000 measurements have been carried out in homes most likely to have elevated levels of radon and its decay products.