HC Deb 15 May 1989 vol 153 cc84-5W
Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many cancers are recognised as being attributable wholly or partly to radiation; and if he will list them;

(2) what methods are used to identify whether or not a cancer can be caused or aggravated by radiation.

Mr. Freeman

I am advised that most of the information available on the risk of cancer from exposure to radiation has been drawn from epidemiological studies. Groups such as the survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been shown to have an increased risk of developing some forms of cancer some years after being exposed to large doses of radiation. Corroborative evidence has been drawn from studies of other groups such as those given radiation therapy for a variety of diseases, and from animal studies. This information is contained in the recent report from the United Nations scientific commission on the effects of atomic radiation (UNSCEAR) (Official Records: forty-third session—supplement No. 45 (A/43/45) a copy of which I will place in the Library shortly. At present, there are no chemical, biological or physiological methods which can determine whether a given cancer is primarily caused by radiation, by another factor, or by a combination of factors.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what collaboration there has been with experts in other countries regarding the identification of cancers caused or aggravated by radiation; and if he will detail the consultation there has been with United States experts.

Mr. Freeman

Advice to the Government on the effects of radiation is provided by the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB). The board's advice on the effects of exposure to radiation on the incidence of cancer is based on a review of all the information available from national and international sources. Some of these sources include the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the United Nations scientific commission on the effects of atomic radiation (UNSCEAR), and the United States' commission on the biological effects of ionising radiation (BEIR).

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the research commissioned into the relationship between cancer and radiation in the last 30 years.

Mr. Freeman

The following list shows the current research directly funded by the Department.

  1. (a) Analysis of cancer incidence in young people in small areas.
  2. (b) Incidence of Leukaemia in west Berkshire.
  3. (c) Geographical studies of Childhood Cancer incidence.
  4. (d) Investigation of the effect of Radon in houses.
  5. (e) Microscopy studies of persorption of radionuclides through the wall of the gut.
  6. (f) Study of the amount of radioactivity which passes into foetal tissue via the placenta.
  7. (g) Investigation of the radiosensitivity of hone marrow stem cells.

A full list of such research over the last 30 years is not readily available. However, the right hon. Member may wish to consult the handbooks of research and development published annually. Copies are available in the Library.

For information on research undertaken for the Department by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, I refer the right hon. Member to the authority's radiation protection research annual report 1988 (AERE R 13204), a copy of which is available in the Library.