§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what evidence he has of a correlation between decreasing lead content in petrol and an increase in fertility; if there is any further evidence to suggest that a decrease in lead content in petrol increases the health of an infant in utero; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoyleI have no such evidence. In any event, though the amount of lead in petrol has been reduced below the 1971 level, there has been an increase in petrol consumption over the period since then. This increase has compensated for the reduction of lead content in petrol, so that the level of lead in the air to which the population has been exposed has remained approximately the same.