HL Deb 15 July 1996 vol 574 cc47-8WA
The Countess of Mar

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they are aware of recent research, including that by Steven F. Arnold, et al, that pesticides and other chemicals which have low potencies in isolation produce potent synergistic oestrogenic effects up to 1,600 times greater than additive effects and what is their response to the researcher's opinion that these results may have profound environmental implications.

Lord Lucas

The Government are aware that a paper by Steven F. Arnoldet al, appeared in the 7th June edition of Science. This paper will be considered along with the existing body of work which, taken as a whole, suggests that the interactions of combinations of pesticides and other chemicals in the environment are at most additive.