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33
Under section 16, smoke (other than that dealt with above)
becomes a statutory nuisance under the Public Health (London) Act
1936 " if it is a nuisance to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood." In
a prosecution the defendant can claim that the best practicable means
had been employed to prevent the nuisance, and it will be seen therefore
that technical evidence may be important.
There are various other major and minor procedural matters in
subsequent sections and in the schedules of the Act. I made a detailed
report to the committee in the autumn of 1956 and the committee
recommended the Council to appoint a specialist smoke inspecctor as
soon as practicable. The inspector was appointed early in 1957.
Atmospheric pollution from diesel engines
Some concern has been expressed from time to time with regard
to the ill effects which the exhaust from diesel engines might have on
the public through atmospheric pollution. It has even been suggested
that this atmospheric pollution from diesel engines might be a contributory
cause of the increasing incidence of lung cancer. The matter has
been considered in detail by the metropolitan boroughs Standing Joint
committee during the year and there has recently been a considerable
amount of research work done on it.
The general position appears to be that the poisonous substances
such as carbon monoxide, the oxides of nitrogen and the hydrocarbons
coming from diesel exhaust are only about one-quarter of the amount
which is discharged from a comparable petrol engine, but the diesel
engine does discharge a small quantity of oxide of sulphur (which petrol
engines do not) and if the engine is not well maintained it discharges
far more soot or carbon than a petrol engine.
An interim report by the Medical Research Council's atmospheric
pollution research group showed that there was virtually no difference
between the amounts of benzpyrene (a hydrocarbon which is known to
be able to produce cancer) present in the air of a London bus garage
where many bus engines were running, and in the open street. The
Transport Executive states that medical advice indicates that the diesel
engine when well-maintained does not emit any harmful amount of
substances liable to be injurious to health and that the exhaust emission
of London buses contains little, if any, carcinogenic hydrocarbons.
I submitted a comprehensive report on the subject to the Health
committee early in the year.
Measurement of atmospheric pollution
The three deposit stations and the three smoke measurement
stations continued in use throughout the year, but in November, as a
result of continued complaints with regard to grit and smoke in the
neighbourhood of the gasworks, a further deposit station was set up in
the grounds of the Sydenham Children's hospital and at the end of the