§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what evidence he has of pollution of the atmosphere by lead from sources other than motor vehicle exhausts.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe main sources of lead in the atmosphere apart from motor vehicles are lead works, other metallurgical plants and processors of lead-based products. Steps are being taken to measure lead in air on a consistent basis in compliance with EC Directive 82/884/EEC on a limit value for lead in air. On the evidence currently available from local authority monitoring, levels of airborne lead from factories do not give cause for concern.
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has received any further medical evidence showing the connection between intelligence and perception and exposure to lead; and if this can be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. WaldegraveStudies by the Great Ormond Street hospital, the university of Birmingham and the Institute of Psychiatry have been completed in the last 12 months. Only the first of these has so far been published in full, however, and evaluation of the findings of all three studies must await the advice of a review group established for the purpose by the Medical Research Council. I have placed copies of the Great Ormond Street report in the Library.
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if the report on the lead levels in blood in the Piedmont region of Italy is now complete; if he has studied it; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe isotopic lead experiment conducted by the EC Commission's Ispra research centre is not yet complete. An interim report has been published, but there are a number of questions still outstanding which it is hoped the final report will resolve. We are therefore not yet in a position to evaluate the study.