§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will outline the possible effects of human consumption of the pesticides atrazine and simazine.
§ Mr. SackvilleNo adverse health effects have been detected in humans from the approved United Kingdom agricultural and non-agricultural uses of these herbicides. In some experiments where doses hundreds of times the highest estimated human intake in the United Kingdom have been fed to laboratory rats, the incidence of mammary tumours was increased.
The independent and statutory Advisory Committee on Pesticides has confirmed that the levels of atrazine and simazine found in some drinking water supplies in the United Kingdom do not endanger the health of consumers. Residues of these chemicals have not been found in food crops.
The United Kingdom has a legal obligation to comply with the European Community's drinking water directive —80/778/EEC—which sets very stringent limits on non-toxicological grounds, and restrictions on the use of both these herbicides were announced in May 1992. Approvals for non-crop use, which is the main source of water contamination, will he revoked on 31 August 1993 and further restrictions will apply to all other uses from the same date.