§ Mr. Kelleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will direct the Health and Safety Commission to investigate the causes of acro-osteolysis and their relationship to any known industrial process, and report.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe Health and Safety Commission is aware of the problem of acro-osteolysis. An association between this disease and high levels of vinyl chloride vapour is accepted. An interim hygiene standard for vinyl chloride was agreed on 14th June by a working group on which the TUC, CBI and CIA, together with Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate and the Employment Medical Advisory Service, are represented. A draft code of practice, showing in detail how vinyl chloride can be controlled within the hygiene standard, is in an advanced state of preparation and will be considered by the working group at its next meeting on 18th November 1974.