§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the common carcinogens emitted from petrol and diesel vehicles in the UK; and the tonnages of each emitted in the latest available year. [132759]
§ Mr. BradshawI have been asked to reply.
Emissions from petrol and diesel vehicles are included in the National Atmospheric Emission Inventory. This inventory, available on-line (http://www.naei.org.uk/) compiles air pollutant emissions for the United Kingdom. The air pollutants emitted in 2001 from road transport that are known carcinogens or potential carcinogens are listed below, including the total emission and the percentage of the total UK emission from road transport for each pollutant.
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Pollutant Sector Emissions in 2001 in Kilotonnes Proportion of total (percentage) 1,3-Butadiene Road Transport-Petrol 2.33 52 Road Transport-Diesel 1.15 26 Total (All sources) 4.48 — Benzene Road Transport—Petrol 5.31 34 Road Transport—Diesel 0.22 1 Total (All sources) 15.39 — Dioxins & Furans Road Transport—Petrol 3.79 1.1 Road Transport—Diesel J0.42 0.1 (Total (All sources) 1341.28 — 16 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons2 Road Transport—Petrol 0.02 1 Road Transport—Diesel 1.10 52 Total (All sources) 2.10 — 1 Total excludes natural fires and vehicle fires) 2 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a large group of chemical compounds with a similar structure, although individual PAHs differ in their capacity to damage human cells. This data provides emissions of the 16 PAHs commonly found in ambient air. They include emissions of benzo[a]pyrene, benz[a]anthracene and dibenz[a]janthracene, which are the three potent animal carcinogens that are classified as 'probably carcinogenic to humans'.