Between 1962 and 1971 the United Kingdom suicide rate fell while the unemployment rate rose, contrary both to earlier British experience & recent trends in other developed countries. It is hypothesized that the “British anomaly” is due to the coincident detoxification of domestic gas after 1963. Unemployment & suicide by means other than domestic gas were found to correlate +0.88 between 1955 & 1980, & +0.70 between 1964 & 1974.