§ Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the studies on plutonium and teeth to which reference is made in the reply to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) of 4 November 2003,Official Report, columns 597–98; and whether further work has been funded by his Department on that matter since this date. [178722]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe study referred to was published as a scientific paper entitled, "Variations in the Concentration of Plutonium, Strontium-90 and Total Alpha-emitters in Human Teeth Collected Within the British Isles", R. G. O'Donnell et al. Science of the Total Environment, 201 (1997) 235–243.
The Department has not funded further studies specifically aimed at measurement of radioactivity in children's teeth. Since 1985, the Department has funded a programme of research in the field of radiological protection and the study by O'Donnell et al was funded from this programme.