§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will publicise the findings of a recent Glasgow study which measured water lead levels in homes of mentally retarded children;
(2) what recent surveys have been made of newborn babies and their blood lead levels; and whether such surveys have revealed any lead levels higher than agreed safety levels;
(3) if he will initiate a comprehensive survey into blood lead levels in children in Scotland.
§ Mr. FairgrieveThe results of the most recent study which examined the water lead levels in homes of some mentally retarded children in Glasgow were published in the Lancet on 15 March 1975.
539WI refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend in answer to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Hillhead (Mr. Galbraith) on 21 November 1980—[Vol. 994, c. 2–3]—about the recent EEC survey of blood lead levels in babies born in Glasgow. A second phase of the EEC survey is to take place in 1981 and will involve Glasgow and Ayr. I have no other proposals at present for a comprehensive survey of Scotland's children.