§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in the light of the fact that, on strong heating, 2,4,5-T is converted into dioxin, whether he has any evidence to suggest that the severe forest fires that occurred during May produced dioxin from weeds sprayed with 2,4,5-T and that this was released into the environment.
§ Mr. WigginI have no such evidence. As far as can be established, 2,4,5-T had not been applied within the time scale which would have created the circumstances in which TCDD might have been formed during these fires.
§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what 700W was the average dioxin content of the 2,4,5-T used in herbicides in the United Kingdom (a) during the 1960s and (b) during the 1970s.
§ Mr. WigginAt any point in time, the limit of detection of the most sensitive analytical techniques available establishes the lowest level at which the TCDD content, if any, of a sample can be measured. Below that threshold, measurement could not be made with the precision needed to determine average concentrations. The information is therefore not available.
§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on whose advice or evidence, and as a result of what investigations, he decided to reduce the permitted level of 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in 2,4,5-T from 0.1 to 0.01 mg./kg., as announced on 22 May.
§ Mr. WigginThe decision was taken after consultation with the chairman of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides, following the development of improved analytical techniques at the Laboratory of the Government Chemist in response to a recommendation by the committee in March 1979.