asked the Minister for the Environment the present position with regard to the lead content in petrol used in this country; the EEC Directive which allowed Ireland to have a different standard from other countries; whether the effect of a higher lead content in petrol used in Ireland is being monitored from the point of view of its effect on the health of people; and when it is expected that the standard will improve.
Written Answers. - Petrol Lead Content.
308.
The European Communities (Lead Content of Petrol) Regulations, 1980, made by me on the 9 December 1980 prescribe a maximum permitted lead content in petrol of 0.64 grammes per litre. These regulations give effect to the EEC Council Directive of 29 June 1978 on the lead content of petrol. The directive stipulates a maximum content of 0.40 grammes per litre in the EEC generally but allows for the placing on the market here, during the period of five years commencing on the 1 January 1981, of petrol having a lead content greater than 0.40 grammes per litre without, however, exceeding a content of 0.64 grammes per litre. This derogation was allowed because of the technical and economic problems which the immediate implementation of the lower limit would have created for the Whitegate Oil Refinery.
Levels of atmospheric lead are kept under continuous review by my Department in association with Dublin Corporation and the Eastern Health Board. Results do not give any grounds for believing that the derogation will result in levels above the two microgram per cubic metre level proposed in a draft EEC Directive on air quality standards for lead, a level which is accepted as one below which human health and the environment are not adversely affected.