HC Deb 20 March 1961 vol 637 cc5-6W
70. Mrs. Slater

asked the Minister of Labour what inquiries have been made into the high rate of pneumoconiosis in Stoke-on-Trent.

Mr. P. Thomas

Coal mining and the pottery industry both give rise to pneumoconiosis in the Stoke-on-Trent area. The pottery industry was recently the subject of a special survey and I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South (Mr. Ellis Smith) on 6th March. Coal mining is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Fuel and Power.

The number of newly diagnosed cases of pneumoconiosis, in all industries, in the area covered by the Stoke-on-Trent Pneumoconiosis Medical Panel has dropped from 1,439 in 1955 to 380 in 1959 and the figure for the first nine months of 1960 suggests that the total for the year will be lower still. This reduction is greater than for the country as a whole.

73. Dr. Stross

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that mass X-ray of pottery workers has shown a high prevalence of simple pneumoconiosis in china turners and throwers; and, in view of the absence of flint in the materials used, what is the agency causing the fibrosis of the lungs.

Mr. Hare

I understand that the report of the Medical Officer of Health for Stoke for 1959, recently published, draws attention to the incidence of pneumoconiosis among these workers and comments that flint is absent from the materials used. The main cause of fibrosis among such workers is the presence of free silica in the materials used, particularly Cornish stone and china clay.