To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what level of lead in the bloodstream is considered to be medically safe for industrial workers working on processes which bring them into regular contact with lead; and if he will make a statement.

The Control of Lead at Work Regulations 1980 and the accompanying approved code of practice specify that where the level of lead in the blood is greater than 70 microgrammes per 100 millilitres (or 40 microgrammes per 100 millilitres for a women of reproductive capacity), the worker should be removed from further exposure to lead until the blood-lead levels have fallen below these concentrations.