§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the incidence of infant methaemoglobinaemia due to the consumption of nitrates in water in East Anglia.
§ Mr. MoyleSince 1954 a total of six cases, none of them fatal, have come to the 479W attention of my Department. Four of these occurred in Lincolnshire in 1970 and the other two in Yorkshire in 1972.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Social Services apart from the few child fatalities in the United Kingdom due to nitrates or nitrites in drinking water, what is the prospect of consequential damage to health due to the presence in water of lesser concentrations; and whether the quality of the chemicals present varies over the course of the year.
§ Mr. MoyleThere has been only one reported fatal case of infantile methaemoglobinaemia in the United Kingdom due to excessive nitrate levels in drinking water. This occurred near Ipswich in 1950 when nitrates—and a trace of nitrite—were present in a shallow well supply at a concentration of 200 parts per million. Above 50 parts per million there is a potential hazard to bottle-fed infants. If this level were reached, bottled water would be provided under arrangements made by the Anglian Water Authority and the area health authorities. The condition of methaemoglobinaemia is reversible by the use of bottled water and there is no evidence of consequential damage to health.
Nitrate concentrations in water vary seasonally and are influenced by rainfall levels.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether there is any connection between high nitrate levels in drinking water and cancer.
§ Mr. MoyleEpidemiological studies in this country and abroad have indicated the possibility of an association between the consumption of drinking water containing high levels of nitrate and the incidence of certain forms of cancer, especially stomach cancer. Further work is in hand to examine the possible relationship between cancer and nitrate intake.