Written question asked by Jenny Willott (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 8 February 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 10 February 2011. It was answered by Lord Grayling (Conservative) on Monday, 28 February 2011 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Dichloromethane

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on the number of (a) injuries and (b) fatalities attributed to the use of products containing dichloromethane in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: I have been asked to reply.Dichloromethane is a widely-used solvent, which can have narcotic effects at high concentrations.A research report prepared for the European Commission identified 18 deaths and 56 non-fatal injuries relating to use of paint strippers containing this solvent across Europe between 1989 and 2007. These included, in the UK, one incident in 1999 which resulted in two deaths in a paint stripping facility, a death in 2002 involving a professional decorator and another fatality in 2006 of a self-employed furniture restorer. In the latter two incidents an additional 16 people were hospitalised.Separate HSE statistics show five non-fatal injuries to employees and two non-fatal injuries to members of the public reported between 2001-02 and 2009-10.

Secondary information