asked the Secretary of State for Employment what further regulations he intends to introduce to prevent the dangers to the health of those who work with asbestos in view of the EEC report on Public Health Risks of Exposure to Asbestos.

The health risks from asbestos are currently being considered by the Advisory Committee on Asbestos, whose establishment was announced to this House on 30th March 1976. The committee is aware of the recent EEC report by Professor R. L. Zielhuis and others entitled "Public Health Risks of Exposure to Asbestos". This report reviews the evidence on the health risks from asbestos both for those who work with it and for the general public, and summarises the legal dust limits in force in the EEC member States, but does not make any specific recommendation for tightening those limits, which are mostly based on British research. The Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission tells me that the Health and Safety Commission does not expect to make any proposals for new regulations on occupational exposure to asbestos until after it has received recommendations from the Advisory Committee.