§ Lord Moranasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are investigating the possible health hazards from paper products which may contain dioxins as a result of the chlorine bleach process; and if so what are the results of their investigations.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Trumpington)I am aware of reports from North America and Scandinavia indicating that low levels of dioxins may be present in certain paper products. The Ministry's Food Science Division Laboratory560WA already has a programme of research underway in order to determine the significance of dioxins in the diet, including any migration of dioxins from paper-derived packaging materials into food in the UK. The results of this work are expected to be available within the next three months.