§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total work force in the United Kingdom; what percentage of this is women; what percentage of the women is married; and what were the comparable figures in 1945, 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970 and 1975.
§ Mr. GoldingEstimates based on incomplete data suggest that the total size of the labour force in Great Britain in 1978 was about 26 million, of which just under 40 per cent. were women. Two-thirds of the women in the labour force were married. Data for earlier years are estimated from censuses of population and household surveys and are as follows:
cadmium, four were listed as being at the time employed or retained by cadmium using or producing industries, one was a consultant carrying out occupational hygiene survey work for industry and four were academic research workers in industrial occupational health. I have no knowledge of how many were in receipt of research grants or other help from the industry.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Employment how British standards for permissible exposure levels to cadmium in industry compare with those in Sweden and Finland.
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§ Mr. John GrantThe standards for permissible occupational exposure to cadmium in the United Kingdom are set out in my reply to my hon. Friend's further questions today.
Sweden adopts a threshold limit value (TLV) of 20 micrograms per cubic metre of air (0.02 milligrams per cubic metre) for respirable cadmium dust and a TLV of 50 micrograms per cubic metre of air (0.05 milligrams per cubic metre) for total cadmium dust.
Finland adopts a TLV of 10 micro-grams per cubic metre of air (0.01 milligrams per cubic metre) for cadmium fume and a TLV of 20 micrograms per cubic metre of air (0.02 milligrams per cubic metre) for total cadmium dust.
I am advised by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that, although they are expressed in different ways, the Swedish and United Kingdom standards for cadmium are not in practice dissimilar and are likely to provide comparable working environments.
The basis is not known for the Finnish cadmium standard which is lower than any other reported standard.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) whether he intends to recommend a cut in permitted exposure levels to cadmium dust in the light of the recent report by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, that they should be reduced by from eight to 15 times if workers are to be protected from kidney damage;
(2) whether he will encourage the use of the composite hazard index technique deeloped at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, United States of America to assess cumulative cadmium ingestation as a guide in revising British standards for acceptable cadmium limits;
(3) whether he has any proposals for cutting British permitted levels for industrial exposure to cadmium.
(4) whether, in view of the cumulative impact of cadmium in the system, he will take account of normal absorption of cadmium through food and through the lungs in setting permissible levels of exposure to cadmium in industry.
§ Mr. John GrantI am informed by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the Health and Safety Executive424W has not so far been able to study a copy of the original report referred to in these questions.
The current standards used in the United Kingdom are those which have been adopted by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) in the United States of America. The maximum allowable concentration of cadmium oxide fume is 005 milligrams per cubic metre of air and the threshold limit value (TLV: a time weighted concentration for an eight hour day, five days a week) for cadmium dusts and salts is 005 milligrams per cubic metric of air. These values are published by the Health and Safety Executive in its current Guidance Note EH 15/77. The ACGIH List and the Health and Safety Executive's Guidance Note EH 15 are revised annually. There has been a progressive reduction in standards for cadmium to present levels since 1974.
The chairman of the Health and Safety Commission informs me that there are no proposals at present to cut the permitted levels of exposure to cadmium-in-air. It is Health and Safety Commission policy, however, that exposures to toxic substances should be kept not only within the current published values but as low as reasonably practicable. This policy is set out in the Health and Safety Executive's Guidance Note EH 18: Toxic Substances—a precautionary policy.
Although the Health and Safety Executive has not yet been able to study the original report describing the composite hazard index technique developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, it has always recognised that inhalation of cadmium fume and dusts in the workplace is not the only route of absorption. The Health and Safety Executive is currently discussing with industry and the TUC guidelines for the biological monitoring of workers which will take account of all routes of cadmium absorption with the aim of preventing adverse health effects from developing.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he is satisfied with the proposed levels for cadmium exposure in industry set by the British Occupational Hygiene Society's committee on hygiene standards: subcommittee on cadmium.
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§ Mr. John GrantThe British Occupational Hygiene Society's recommendations for standards for occupational exposure to cadmium are not the standards applied by the Health and Safety Executive. The current standards used in the United Kingdom are those set out in my reply to my hon. Friend's further questions today and published in Guidance Note EH 15/77.