Vol. 244 No. 4
asked the Minister for Health if he has noted the report from the Department of Dermatology of Hallamshire Hospital in England that brief domestic exposure to biological detergents can cause severe and persistent dermatitis; whether his Department has organised any research here into the problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
12.
asked the Minister for Health whether, having regard to the several cases of dermatitis and other skin irritations associated with the use of domestic washing detergents, he will take steps to have all detergents medically tested before permitting their use.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to reply to Questions Nos. 11 and 12 together.
The report to which the Deputy refers was published in the form of a letter in the British Medical Journal's correspondence column of the 31st January, 1970. I have read this letter together with a letter in the correspondence column of the Irish Times of the 3rd February from the Irish Housewives Association and an article in the same issue of that paper based largely on both letters.
I have had inquiries made and there does not appear to have been in recent times any increase in the incidence of detergent dermatitis in this country. I do not therefore deem it necessary to take any particular action at this stage but I have arranged that my Department keep an eye on the situation.
May I say that, as a commonsense precaution, persons liable to be irritated by detergents should wear rubber or plastic gloves when using detergents.
Detergents are in very common use. Would the Minister not consider that the Department of Health should require that all detergents be examined before they are put into general use in the same manner as drugs and medicines of all kinds are examined? The incidence of dermatitis and other skin ailments arising from the use of detergents appears to be as great as the incidence of side effects from drugs.
The Institute of Industrial Research and Standards indicate that all reputable manufacturers test their products adequately before putting them on the market. Otherwise they might find themselves sued for civil damages. Warning notices appear on packets advising users to rinse their hands after use. The Department of Labour have informed me that although dermatitis is not a notifiable disease under the Factories Acts they are aware that it exists to a degree among employees in the soap and detergent industry. They are not aware of any increased incidence since the manufacture of what are known as the biological detergents. The information we can get from some specialists who deal with dermatitis in this country is that they have not noticed any marked increase in the incidence of the disease.
The Minister will agree that these so-called biological detergents are not long on the market here but there are reports from America where they are in widespread use indicating that there is quite a high incidence of dermatitis due to them. Perhaps a precautionary statement might be made regarding them before their use becomes widespread here.
So far as I know these detergents have been on the market for some time. Members of the House should know that a great many women now automatically put on gloves when they use these detergents. This effectively inhibits what is generally, in fact, rather mild dermatitis.
Is the Minister aware that most cases of dermatitis and skin irritations do not come to the public notice for the simple reason that the civil courts have held here that the manufacturers cannot be held liable? The information on which the Minister is acting is not entirely reliable because it is inadequate.
I have to keep this question under review. I have to depend on the information that comes from my Department. I am told by Deputy Ryan that the information I have been given by my Department is inadequate. I have no evidence from the experts concerned that there has been an increase in dermatitis of this kind.
Would the Minister agree to invite the public who have suffered dermatitis from the use of detergents to notify his Department? I venture to suggest that most sufferers have not notified the Department because they believe there would be no point in doing so. If the Minister would now issue this invitation I believe he would get evidence which would alarm him.
I would be very careful of issuing an invitation of that kind. The statistics resulting from it might be completely false, as the Deputy well knows.
