§ Mr. FatchettTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 30 January,Official Report, column 548, if he will give details of the experiments carried out under (a) mild, (b) moderate, (c) substantial and (d) unclassified project licences currently in effect at his Department's establishments; if he will identify the animals involved; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreemanThe types of studies carried out under the project licences currently in effect at the Department's establishments by categories are as follows:
- (a) mild: These include studies of the influence of stress on the toxicity of potential CW agents, the effectiveness of skin protectants and decontaminants, the use of transdermal techniques to administer medical countermeasures and the acceleration of healing in chemical warfare agent induced injury.
- (b)moderate: These include studies of the mechanism of action, pharmacology and treatment of chemical and biological warfare agent poisoning and infection, detection and identification of biological agents, the control of infection in wounds, improved techniques for military surgery and trauma studies and exposure to different pressures of air or oxygen for varying durations.
- (c)substantial: These include studies of the mechanism of action and treatment of chemical and biological warfare agents.
- (d)unclassified: These include studies of the attenuation of impact loads.
It would involve a disproportionate amount of effort to identify the animals involved.