§ Mr. Altonasked the Prime Minister what action has been taken to implement the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides, made in March 1979, that Government Departments should carry out experimental work to provide a reliable method for the determination of dioxin content in formulations of 2,4,5-T so as to enable a workable standard to be set; and what results, if any, have been obtained.
§ The Prime MinisterThe Laboratory of the Government Chemist has continued to study procedures for the estimation of the TCDD content of 2,4,5-T and its formulations. It is now possible to achieve limits of determination of less than 0.1 milligrams of TCDD per kilogram of sample for technical 2,4,5-T and for some of its commercial formulations. Those formulations which contain low proportions of 2,4,5-T and certain types and grades of oil still present analytical difficulties and further work on these is in progress.