To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what his latest estimate is of the (a) mortality and (b) morbidity caused by smog in the UK; [133281](2) what research he has commissioned on the effects on human health caused by the emission of oxides of nitrogen from conventionally powered vehicles. [133282]
The Department of Health has commissioned several research projects on the health effects of nitrogen dioxide. These include research on the interaction between nitrogen dioxide and allergens in asthmatic volunteers; research on nitrogen dioxide and exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; research on the impact of the 1991 nitrogen dioxide episode; research on the health effects of exposure to traffic; general air pollution projects which include nitrogen dioxide and some literature review projects. A full list of the air pollution research projects funded by the Department of Health is given on the air pollution website www.doh.gov.uk/airpollution/index.htm. The Executive Summary of a review of results of the air pollution research programme is available at www.le.ac.uk/ieh/pdf/sr4execsum.pdf.The Department of Health's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) has reported that, in 1995–96, air pollution in Great Britain was associated with deaths brought forward in those already ill and respiratory hospital admissions as shown in the following tables.
| Numbers of deaths and hospital admissions for respiratory diseases affected per year by PM10 (particulate matter generally less than 10 (m in diameter) and sulphur dioxide in urban areas of Great Britain | ||
| Pollutant | Health outcomes | GB urban |
| PM10 | Deaths brought forward (all cause) | 8,100 |
| Hospital admissions (respiratory) brought forward and additional | 10,500 | |
| S02 | Deaths brought forward (all cause) | 3,500 |
| Hospital admissions (respiratory) brought forward and additional | 3,500 | |
| Numbers of deaths and hospital admissions for respiratory diseases affected per year by ozone in both urban and rural areas of Great Britain during summer only | |||
| GB, threshold | GB, threshold | ||
| Pollutant | Health outcomes | = 50 ppb | = 0 ppb |
| Ozone | Deaths brought forward: | 700 | 12,500 |
| all causes | |||
| Hospital admissions | 500 | 9,900 | |
| (respiratory) brought | |||
| forward or additional | |||
Source:
COMEAP(1998)
Since that time, pollution levels have reduced but COMEAP has concluded that a wider range of outcomes (such as cardiovascular admissions and loss of life expectancy due to long-term exposure) can be quantified. COMEAP will be producing a report updating the above estimates starting in 2004.