§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he proposes to take in order to control and reduce environmental contamination by cadmium; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe Government's policy as set out in pollution paper No. 17 is to keep man's total intake of cadmium as low as practicable and to take every opportunity to reduce exposure while taking into account the technical advantages of cadmium and the merits and availability of alternatives. With this in mind, the Government have welcomed the Community Directive on cadmium discharges to water 83/513/EEC as a valuable additional means of reducing environmental contamination by this metal. My Department has issued guidance to the water authorities on the implementation of this directive and will keep the results under review.
No immediate need is foreseen for further measures but the subject is being kept under review and other actions to reduce exposure will be considered as opportunities arise. This is in line with the preventive approach implicit in the Government policy.