HC Deb 10 March 1981 vol 1000 c283W
Dr. Roger Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what progress has been made in monitoring the urinary excretion of workers who still handle the herbicide 2,4,5-T by the Employment Advisory Medical Service and the Agricultural Industry Advisory Committee; and if, in view of the increasing numbers of local authorities who have discontinued the handling of the material by employees and the refusal by major unions to allow members to handle it, he is satisfied that there are sufficient individual handlers of the material available to set up a study of health effects.

Mr. Waddington

The position with regard to the monitoring of the urinary execretion of workers handling 2,4,5-T remains as I outlined it to the hon. Member in my letter to him on 18 February 1981. The Health and Safety Executive's employment medical advisory service will consider whether a planned series of checks is desirable.

The number of individual handlers of 2,4,5-T is uncertain. The Government's Advisory Committee on Pesticides recently published the results of its thorough review of the herbicide's general health effects.