§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health as part of the research that is to take place into the effects of aluminium in infants, if he will include a study of the extent to which aluminium sulphate added to water supplies as a cleaning agent enters the body and is hazardous.
§ Mr. FreemanThe Medical Research Council, which is the main Government-funded body dealing with biomedical and clinical research, and which receives its grant-in-aid from the Department of Education and Science, is sponsoring research into the uptake and biological effects of aluminium from all sources, including drinking water.
Other independent research is being undertaken into the sources of aluminium in infants' diet and its absorption and excretion.
The Department of Health's independent advisory committee on toxicity of chemicals in food, consumer products and the environment will be asked to advise on the results of this research when they are available.