§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Employment what advice the Health and Safety Executive is currently giving to manufacturers who use ethylene oxide as a sterilising agent; what are the long-term hazards relating to this substance; if the Executive will issue a consultative document regarding the use of ethylene oxide; and which organisation it is the intention of the Executive to consult on these matters.
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§ Mr. John Grant, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 6 March 1979; Vol. 963, c. 655], gave the following information:
I am advised by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the advice being given by the Health and Safety Executive to manufacturers using ethylene oxide as a sterilising agent is based upon the general provisions of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974, in particular section 2, and is specifically concerned with keeping the exposure of work people as low as is reasonably practicable and in any case within the published threshold limit value of 50 parts per million on an eight-hour time weighted average basis.
It has been reported from Sweden that long-term exposure of persons employed in the sterilisation of hospital equipment to mixtures of gases including ethylene oxide may carry an increased risk of developing blood disorders. It is not clear at this stage how far it would be possible to draw valid general conclusions from this study. Other reports suggest the possibility of increased risk of foetal damage and spontaneous abortion in animals. There is no specific evidence of foetal damage to humans and no evidence of carcinogenicity to animals from exposure to ethylene oxide, although a number of long-term studies are in hand to investigate these aspects of the problem.
I am also advised that at the present time the Health and Safety Executive has no plans to issue a consultative document on the use of ethylene oxide for sterilisation purposes.
The Department of Health and Social Security has set up an inter-departmental working group on which the Health and Safety Executive is represented to review the data relating to the health hazards of ethylene oxide.