§ Ms. LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will commission research into the cause of anophthalmia;
(2) what assessment she has made of the effects of (a) benomyl and (b) other pesticides on unborn children.
§ Mr. SackvilleBefore a pesticide is approved for use in the United Kingdom a careful assessment is made of its safety in use which includes data related to any possibility of risks to unborn children. We must seek advice from the independent expert statutory Advisory Committee on Pesticides before approving any pesticide.
Benomyl was last reviewed by the ACP in March 1992 and it advised that applied in accordance with the approved conditions of use both consumers of produce and operators should not be at risk. The ACP has been asked to consider at its next meeting in March the most recent study conducted by the university of California. This study, which adds little to present knowledge of the effects of benomyl in laboratory animals, was undertaken to investigate the eye defects and dosed rats at a level that was known to cause these defects and was 1,000 times higher than the likely human exposure level.
Anophthalmia and the related condition microphthalmia are known in some cases to be of genetic origin and some may be the consequence of infection with rubella or toxoplasmosis. Few studies have been done into the causes of anophthalmia and microphthalmia, and their comparative rarity makes it difficult to show any environmental association; nevertheless, that same rarity argues against commonly used pesticides or other chemicals alone being a cause. Clinicians at the Moorfields hospital are at present investigating a number of children born without eyes or with very small eyes. The Government will consider the results from this study with great care and take any action necessary.