HC Deb 23 January 1980 vol 977 c259W
Dr. Roger Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has any evidence to suggest that dioxin present in 2,4,5,-T accumulates after expossure as, for example, lead and mercury do in human organs and tissues.

Sir George Young

Dioxin (TCDD) can be accumulated in human organs and tissues and this was considered by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides in its review in March 1979 of the safety in use in the United Kingdom of the herbicide 2,4,5-T. Its advice was that at the low level of TCDD permitted in 2,4,5-T (0.1 mg/kg) the herbicide could continue to be used under the recommendations governing its application. An important factor is that TCDD is very quickly broken down by light and is not very moveable in soil. There has been no new evidence since March 1979 that would call for this decision to be reconsidered.

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