§ Mr. ButlerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on mortality resulting from concentrations of benzene in the air.
§ Mr. DorrellNone.
Benzene is toxic at high doses and is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a human carcinogen. However, exposure of the general population to benzene—from all sources combined—is very low compared with that of the special occupational groups that have been studied and the health effects attributable to it are difficult to assess. It is therefore not possible, on present information, to attribute any specific excess mortality to environmental exposure to benzene.
The Department of Health, in conjunction with several other Government Departments, is funding research by the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU). SAHSU is an independent body based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. It has built up a comprehensive database on the distribution of mortality (by specified cause) and on the incidence of cancer related to small areas of the country. It is currently undertaking studies of the incidence of mortality and cancer in the neighbourhood of industrial installations, including benzene works.