HL Deb 16 February 1972 vol 328 cc297-8WA
LORD O'HAGAN

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What level of lead in blood they view as safe.

LORD DRUMALBYN

I am advised that, in the light of current knowledge, it is believed that a level of less than 80 micrograms of lead per 100 millilitres of whole blood is unlikely to harm an adult under industrial conditions. Levels above this are not necessarily dangerous but indicate that special medical supervision is required, together with investigation of working conditions.

LORD O'HAGAN

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Subject Governments Concerned
English Channel: safety of navigation Belgium, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Netherlands; and within the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation (IMCO).
North Sea and English Channel: prevention of marine pollution by dumping and from sources other than dumping. Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Federa Republic of Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden.
North Sea: marine pollution by oil (arising from North Sea Oil Pollution Agreement, 1969). Belgium, France.
North Sea: oil and gas exploitation Federal Republic of Germany, Netherlands, Norway.
English Channel: Continental shelf delimitation France.
Channel Tunnel France.
Fisheries conservation, notably of salmon and herring. Members of the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (Belgium, Denmark, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, U.S.S.R.).

Whether they are aware that, in the U.S.S.R., only ten micrograms of lead per cubic metre of air are allowed in factories; and whether British workers are twenty times more lead resistant than Russians.

LORD DRUMALBYN

The answer to the first part of this question is, Yes, and to the second part that we have no reason to believe that this is so. It is understood, however, that the whole basis on which threshold limit values are established in Russia is different from that normally accepted in the West, and that the two are not therefore strictly comparable.