§ 37. Mrs. Joyce Butlerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will examine the risk to the general population living in the vicinity of factories making PVC in the light of recent evidence of death from liver cancer of a resident in the vicinity of such a factory in the United States of America; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Denis HowellMy right hon. Friend is assured by his medical advisers that there is no evidence to support the suggestion that the particular case of liver cancer to which my hon. Friend is referring was caused by vinyl chloride. In the few cases in which a link between vinyl chloride and liver cancer has been established it has been where a worker has been exposed to high concentrations over a long period of time. Nevertheless, in the examination of the whole problem further information on the concentrations in the air around factories is being collected and will be evaluated.