§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment. Food and Rural Affairs (1) what assessment she has made of the(a) 0.1mg and (b) 10mg limit on (i) active pesticide breakdown products and (ii) metabolites in groundwater; [100567]
(2) What recent (a) representations she has received and (b) discussions she has had regarding the limit of (a) pesticide breakdown products and (b) metabolites in groundwater; and if she will make a statement; [100568]
(3) If she will list those metabolites considered (a) relevant and (b) non-relevant with regard to the 0.1mg limit on (i) pesticide breakdown products and (ii) metabolites in groundwater. [100569]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 5 March 2003]: The EU Pesticides Authorisations Directive (91/414/EEC) requires that pesticide active substances and their relevant metabolites, or breakdown products, should not exceed 0.1 micrograms per litre (0.1.µg/L) in groundwater. This 0.11.µg/L trigger value is the permitted level for pesticides and their relevant metabolites in drinking water. Its application to groundwater through Directive 91/414/EEC is designed to ensure that groundwater can be used for drinking water without treatment to remove pesticides. 0.1.µg/L or 1 part in 10 billion is an extremely low level of contamination which ensures that consumers are protected from the most toxic pesticides.
1284WThe European Commission adopted a "guidance document on the assessment of the relevance of metabolites in groundwater of substances regulated under Council Directive 91/414/EEC" on 26 February 2003. This document will soon be made available on the Commission website at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/ food/fs/ph ps/pro/wrkdoc/index en.htm
The aim is to lay down an approach to the determination of which metabolites are of concern and which are not. The Guidance has the support of all member states except Denmark. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, received a letter from the Danish Environment Minister sent to all EU Ministers for the Environment seeking a Council debate on the document before its adoption. We have received no other recent representations on this issue.
The relevance of the soil metabolites of particular pesticides is considered on a case by case basis using the approach laid down in the Guidance Document. In general metabolites are relevant if they (a) have comparable intrinsic properties to the parent compound or (b) have unacceptable toxicological properties. The conclusions on the relevance of particular metabolites as judged by the Guidance Document will be available in the review report for that compound. However, since the Guidance Document has only recently been adopted, no conclusions have yet been reached.
The limit of 10 micrograms per litre (10 µg/L) on metabolites is not a legal limit. It is a trigger value in the Guidance Document applicable to "non-relevant metabolites" or metabolites of lesser concern. If a compound were to give rise to non-relevant metabolites above 10 µg/L then it would not be approved unless there was strong evidence that the metabolite was of no concern.