Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 29 April 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 6 May 2009. It was answered by Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 May 2009 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Aviation: Air Pollution

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many aeroplanes were subject to (a) carbon monoxide, (b) carbon dioxide and (c) ozone gas level monitoring in cabin air in 2008; in how many and what percentage of cases levels of each gas above acceptable levels were detected; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The presence of gases in aircraft cabin air is not routinely monitored in the UK. Studies such as the European Cabin Air project have shown that normally the levels of chemical and biological contaminants in aircraft are less than in many work environments such as office buildings.There are however occasional bad smells or "fume events" during flights, which are estimated to occur on approximately 0.05 per cent of flights overall (one in 2000).The Department for Transport funded research is under way to capture samples of aircraft cabin air during normal conditions and fume events and analyse them to see what substances they contain and in what concentrations.The research findings will be published as a whole once they are written up and peer reviewed.Since 2006 the Government have a statutory duty to safeguard the health of persons on aircraft. As far as we know, that is unique to the UK and we take it seriously.

Secondary information