PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Lead: Contamination (23 October 2024)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the scope of the Food Standards Agency’s review of dietary lead as part of its risk analysis programme covers areas with high concentrations of abandoned lead mines.

Asked by:
Sir Julian Smith (Conservative)

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is planning to review dietary lead as part of its rolling programme of risk analysis of environmental contaminants in food. This will include consideration of areas where exposure is likely to be higher.

Previous reviews of lead have shown that while exposures are not a health concern for the majority of the population, a small risk to some individuals arising from exposure to high levels of lead in soil, dust, or in drinking water cannot be excluded. The FSA has started scoping this work, including considering what, if any, additional sampling may be required as well as identifying what information is already available to inform the assessment.

Local authorities are responsible for inspecting contaminated land and addressing any issues arising from it under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Public Health England, now the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), has issued advice about the use of potentially contaminated residential land for food. The UKHSA says that, to date, there is very limited data linking any health effects with land contamination in England. People should follow normal hygiene precautions and wash their hands thoroughly after working in the garden or an allotment, especially when in contact with soil and before handling food or drink. It is further advised that produce grown in the soil is washed and peeled, in order to remove any soil or dust.

The outcome of our review will inform the need for additional guidance or other risk management measures, such as changes to permitted levels in different food categories.

Answered by:
Andrew Gwynne (Labour)
30 October 2024