§ Mr. RiddickTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the total number of electors registered in(a) Colne Valley, (b) Huddersfield, (c) Dewsbury and (d) Batley and Spen parliamentary constituencies in each year since 1982.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe information requested is shown in the table.
with blood disorders and leukaemia. The IARC advises on whether a chemical is carcinogen from animal studies and human data.
The Department's independent expert advisory Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment discussed the question of- the carcinogenic effects of benzene, in relation to not only levels in petrol, but the whole range of sources of exposure of the general population, at its meetings in 1990 and 1991. The committee's conclusions were:
Benzene was genotoxic and shown to be carcinogenic in humans. No threshold for carcinogenicity had been demonstrated and therefore there is no entirely safe level with regard to carcinogenic effects. There is evidence of increased 207W incidence rates for various leukaemias, mainly nonlymphocytic, in occupational groups exposed to levels in the 10–20 ppm range".People's exposure to benzene is greatest at petrol stations, but is of short duration. The exposure of the general population to benzene from all sources combined is very low compared with that of special occupational groups. Studies of these groups have shown that health effects attributable to benzene are difficult to assess. It is therefore not possible, on present information, to establish any direct link between the increased incidence of leukaemia or mortality in children or adults and environmental exposure to benzene.
The Department, in conjunction with several other Government Departments, is funding research by the small area health statistics unit, which 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.