§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what risk assessment she has commissioned on the link between benzene exhaust emissions from motor vehicles and human health.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe Committees on Carcinogenicity—COC—and on Medical Effects of Air Pollutants—COMEAP—have considered hazards to health from inhalation of benzene, which is a component of exhaust emissions from motor vehicles and of vapour fumes from petrol.
Benzine is toxic at high doses and is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a human carcinogen. Long-term occupational exposure to benzene at concentrations a thousand times greater than those typically found in urban air in the United Kingdom has been shown to increase the risk of certain types of leukaemia in adults; its use in industry is therefore strictly controlled. Although it is not possible to define an absolute safe level of exposure to benzene, levels in outdoor air encountered in the United Kingdom are considered by the COC and the COMEAP to present very low risk to health.