HC Deb 19 October 1971 vol 823 cc535-6
21. Mrs. Joyce Butler

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which body is to undertake the analysis of shell-fish in the Thames Estuary for mercury; what will be the scope of its investigations; when it is expected to report; and if lie will make a statement.

Mr. Prior

Details of the analyses of fish and shell-fish from the Thames Estuary and other areas, which were made by the Fisheries Laboratory of my Department, are included in the First Report of the Working Party on the Monitoring of Foodstuffs for Mercury and other Heavy Metals which was published on 15th October.

I have placed a copy of that Report in the Library together with a copy of the statement I made on the day of publication.

I have accepted scientific and medical advice that there is no evidence of harm to health from present levels of mercury in food for the average consumer. Nor has it been possible to identify in this country any group of persons who, as a result of special eating habits, have suffered harm from the ingestion of mercury in the diet.

Mrs. Butler

I welcome the Report. Can the right hon. Gentleman say when he expects to receive a report on the longterm combined effects of mercury, lead and cadmium on human health? Will he also report progress on identifying sources of mercury pollution, and the means of stopping it?

Mr. Prior

Testing for lead and cadmium has only just begun. I think that it will take about a year to get accurate results, but I shall consider whether it is possible to inform the House of the position at an earlier stage than that. The tracing of the sources of mercury, cadmium and lead is something that we are tackling all the time, and already we have brought about a considerable improvement as a result of the tests that we have made and the information that has come to us of their sources of origin