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Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards
Airborne Particles: What is the appropriate measurement
on which to base a standard ?
A Discusson Document

TERMS OF REFERENCE

The Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards (EPAQS) was established in 1991. The terms of reference of the Panel are:

“To advise the Secretary of State for the Environment, Scottish Ministers, National Assembly for Wales and the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland, as required, on non-occupational ambient air quality standards, with particular reference to the levels of airborne pollutants at which no or minimal effects on human health are likely to occur;

i. taking account of the best available evidence

ii. without reference to the practicality of abatement or mitigation measures, the economic costs and economic benefits of pollution control measures or other factors pertinent to the management rather than the assessment of risk;

to identify gaps in the knowledge needed for standard setting and suggest potential priority areas for future research;

to advise on other aspects of air quality and air pollution referred to it;

for the purpose of informing the development of policy on the improvement of air quality and increasing public knowledge and understanding of air quality issues.”

This report is one in a series that deals with pollutants suggested to the Panel by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the Scottish Executive, National Assembly for Wales and Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland (the Devolved Administrations). Reports consider individual pollutants except where the Panel decide to deal with more than one because of the relationships between pollutants.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE PANEL

Chairman

Professor A Seaton CBE, MD, FRCP, FRCPE, FFOM, FMedSci
University of Aberdeen Medical School

Members

Professor J G Ayres BSc, MD, FRCP, FRSA
Birmingham Heartland’s Hospital and University of Warwick

Professor H R Anderson MD, MSc, FRCP, FFPHM
St George’s Hospital Medical School, London

Dr PJ Baxter MD, MSc, FRCP, FFOM
University of Cambridge

Professor PG J Burney MA, MD, FRCP, FFPHM
The Medical School of Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’Hospitals, King’s College London

Dr J W Cherrie BSc, PhD, FBIOH
University of Aberdeen and Institute of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh

Dr AE Cockcroft MD, FRCP, DIH, FFOM
Occupational Health and Safety Unit, The Royal Free Hospital, London

Professor D N M Coggon MA, PhD, DM, FRCP, FFOM, FMedSci MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton

Dr R G Derwent OBE, MA, PhD
Meteorological Office

Professor R M Harrison PhD, DSc, FRSC, FRMetS, Hon MFPHM, Hon FFOM
University of Birmingham

Professor S T Holgate BSc, MD, DSc, FRCP, FRCPE, CBiol, FIBiol, FRSA, FMedSci
Faculty of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital

Mr J F Hurley MA
Institute of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh

Observers

Dr H Jackson PhD (Observer until September 1999)
Health and Safety Executive

Mrs M Meldrum BSc (Hons), MSc (Observer from March 2000)
Health and Safety Executive

Dr PT C Harrison PhD, CBiol, FIBiol
MRC Institute for Environment and Health

Assessors

Dr I Hall PhD (Assessor until December 1999)
Scottish Executive

Dr A Branding PhD (Assessor from December 1999)
Scottish Executive

Mrs H Anderson BSc, MBA, MCIEH (Assessor from March 1999)
Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland

Dr P Tromans BM, BCh, MFPHM (Assessor until December 1999)
National Assembly for Wales

Secretariat

Dr M LWilliams PhD
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions

Professor R L Maynard CBE, BSc, MB, BCh, MRCP, FRCPath, FFOM
Department of Health

Dr S M Coster PhD
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions

Dr H Walton PhD
Department of Health

Dr J Dixon PhD
University College London

Dr C Tuckett PhD (Secretariat until February 1999)
MRC Institute for Environment and Health

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank the following individuals and organisations for their help:

Steve Moorcroft and Richard Maggs at Stanger, Science and Environment, for the calculation of data in Table 2 and Figure 9.

Kelly Bérubé, Tim Jones and Roy Richards at the School of Biosciences, Cardiff University for the photographs of particles.

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Published 17 May 2001
Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards
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