Transport
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who has
advised her Department on air cabin quality and possible contamination in the
last five years; to which institutions they are affiliated; which other
organisations they have advised over that period; and which of those
organisations operate on a commercial basis. [196733]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 31 March 2008]: The advice the
Department is acting upon comes from two sources; the Committee on Toxicity, an
independent scientific committee that provides advice to the Food Standards
Agency and Government Departments, and whose evidence review into cabin air was
published in September 2007; and the House of Lords Science and Technology
Committee whose report into Air Travel and Health was published in December
2007. Following this advice the Department is developing cabin air sampling
research with a number of participating airlines to assemble real time data on
substances which may be in cabin air during fume events. We are taking
technical advice from a research team and steering group on how to collect and
analyse the air samples.