§ Lord O'HAGANasked Her Majesty's Government:
To make a comprehensive statement about their current views on the dangers from lead in petrol, and whether these conform with the views of other member States and the Commission of the EEC.
§ The PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE, DEPARTMENT of HEALTH and SOCIAL SECURITY (Lord Wells-Pestell)My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Social Services has set up a working party, under the chairmanship of Professor P. J. Lawther, Professor of Environmental and Preventive Medicine at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, to review the overall effect on health of environmental lead from all sources including petrol. The working party, which began work in December, is expected to carry out a comprehensive assessment of all relevant research studies, both at home and abroad, and thereby to provide Her Majesty's Government with firm advice on which any necessary measures can be based.
In the meantime it is the Government's aim to continue the policy of reducing the presence of lead in the environment; in particular we have adopted the policy of not allowing the total volume of lead emitted from vehicles to rise above the level reached in 1971, and of preferably keeping it below that level. Accordingly regulations have been made to reduce again the maximum permitted lead level in petrol from the present 0.45 grammes per litre to 0.40 grammes per litre from January 1981. This is in line with a recent EEC Directive agreed by the member states and the Commission.
744WACompared with the present level in the United Kingdom of 0.45 grammes per litre, current limits in the other member States are 0.64 (Ireland—commercial limit only); 0.62 (Italy); 0.55 (Luxembourg) 0.50 (France); 0.45 (Belgium); 0.40 (Denmark and the Netherlands); and 0.15 (West Germany). My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport has set up a working party to examine the cost implications of possible further measures to limit the quantity of lead emitted from vehicles.