§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Employment what progress has been made in vinyl chloride monomer production to protect workers against angiosar-coma: and what steps are being taken to detect carcinogenic potential in chemical products.
§ Mr. John GrantWhen the relationship between exposure to Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) and angiosarcoma was established in 1974 Her Majesty's Inspector of Factories set up a tripartite working group to consider what action should be taken. By February 1975 the working group had produced the Vinyl Chloride Code of Practice for Health Precautions. Before the carcinogenicity of VCM was established the threshold limit value had been set at 200 parts per million (ppm). The code of practice set an interim hygiene standard of 25 ppm time weighted average over an eight-hour shift with a ceiling value, which was not to be exceeded, of 50 ppm, with a provision that wherever practicable concentrations should be brought as near as possible to zero. In addition, the code required stringent monitoring and recording procedures, medical supervision, joint consultation, training and education of workers exposed to VCM.
The working group revised the code in the light of developing knowledge and agreed in October 1975 that the hygiene standard should be reduced to 10 ppm time weighted average—ceiling 30 ppm—with the same proviso that wherever 597W practicable concentrations should be brought as near as possible to zero.
Experts from industry and the Health and Safety Executive have been in frequent contact with their counterparts in Europe and the USA to pool knowledge on this subject. They are also actively engaged in the drafting of an EEC vinyl Chloride Directive largely based on the United Kingdom code of practice.
Section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974 imposes a duty on manufacturers of substances for use at work to carry out or arrange for the carrying out of any necessary research with a view to the discovery and, so far as is reasonably practicable, the elimination or minimisation of any risks to safety or health to which the substance may give rise. This duty extends to carcinogenic potential.
Widespread use is made of the results of animal experiments and the possibilities of rapid screening for carcinogenic potential using micro-organisms are currently being investigated both by industry and by the Health and Safety Executive through the Medical Research Council.