§ Mr. JannerTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has on the number of people who have died of asphyxiation from accidentally swallowing a pen top, how many of these were children, and how many of these accidents occurred in school.
§ Mr. ButcherInformation is available for England and Wales from three sources: (i) a study of all children's deaths registered as inhalation of a foreign body between 1964 and 1984, (ii) the home accident deaths database for 1982–1985, and (iii) a newspaper cutting service (though the latter is not regarded as exhaustive).
A total of 10 cases is known to my Department. All the victims were children. Two of the accidents occurred in schools, the other eight at home.
608WThe following table gives details of the extent of information available.
Deaths in England and Wales from asphyxiation following swallowing of a pen top Year Children under 15 years Adults aged 15 + years At home At school Elsewhere At home Elsewhere 1964 0 0 0 1— 1— 1965 0 0 0 1— 1— 1966 0 0 0 1— 1— 1967 0 0 0 1— 1— 1968 0 0 0 1— 1— 1969 0 0 0 1— 1— 1970 3 0 0 1— 1— 1971 0 0 0 1— 1— 1972 0 0 0 1— 1— 1973 1 0 0 1— 1— 1974 1 0 0 1— 1— 1975 0 0 0 1— 1— 1976 1 0 0 1— 1— 1977 0 0 0 1— 1— 1978 0 0 0 1— 1— 1979 0 0 0 1— 1— 1980 0 0 0 1— 1— 1981 0 0 0 1— 1— 1982 0 0 0 0 1— 1983 1 0 0 0 1— 1984 1 1 0 0 1— 1985 0 1— 1— 0 1— 1986 Data not yet available 1987 Data not yet available, 1 known case of a child at schoool 1 — = No data. Note:
Where the table indicates that no data are available this means that while the Department is not aware of any cases, an exhaustive study of death registrations has not been made.