§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, in view of the outcome of the recent seminar of the United States Environment Protection Agency on the possible carcinogenic effects of dioxin (2,3,7,8 Tetrachlorodibenzo-D-dioxin), and in view of the level of dioxin in the chemicals 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, he will now ban their use.
§ Mrs. FennerNo. It is understood that the unpublished findings of this seminar confirm those of other studies that the primary sources of 2,3,7,8-TCDD and other dioxins in the environment are the industrial manufacture of chlorophenols, chemical waste disposal sites, incineration plants, and other combustion sources. 2,3,7,8-TCDD does not occur in the manufacture of 2,4-D herbicides; and its presence, if any, in 2,4,5-T herbicides is already strictly controlled in the United Kingdom at the limit of detection of the most sophisticated analytical techniques available.