§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many days of(a) moderate, (b) high and (c) very high air pollution there were recorded at Lullington Heath, East Sussex, in each year since 1997. [31962]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 31 January 2002]: The numbers of days of moderate, high and very high pollution at Lullington Heath since 1997 are given in Table 1. Pollution at each site is defined according to the pollutant that is in the highest band during the day. Ratified data are available up to 30 September 2001. After this date, care must be taken in interpretation of the pollution levels recorded, since high measurements may be the result of instrument error that is still to be identified.
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Table 1: Number of days of moderate, high and very high air pollution at Lullington Heath, East Sussex in each year since 1997 Level Moderate High Very high 1997 77 3 0 1998 47 1 0 1999 83 5 0 2000 43 0 0 2001 54 3 0 All the days of moderate, high and very high pollution recorded at Lullington Heath were due to ozone pollution. There were no recorded days of moderate, high or very high pollution for nitrogen dioxide or sulphur dioxide in any of the five years. High air pollution episodes due to ozone are recorded only in the summer months. The pollution is linked to hot sunny weather when industrial and motor vehicle emissions react under these conditions to form ground-level ozone. Light easterly winds sometimes bring this pollution across to the UK from central Europe. If conditions are very still for several days then high pollution can be generated by pollution emissions from UK sources too.