§ Mrs. FyfeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what study his Department has carried out into the risks to male fertility resulting from environmental oestrogen phthalates, polychlorinated biphenyls, bovine oestrogen and urine from contraceptive users; and if he will make a statement. [38874]
§ Mr. SackvilleThe Department of the Environment, in consultation with the Department of Health, commissioned the Medical Research Council Institute for Environment and Health to review the health aspects—including male reproductive disorders—of environmental oestrogens. The institute's report, "Environmental Oestrogens: Consequences to Human Health and Wildlife" found no evidence of a causal link between apparent changes in reproductive health in human beings with exposure to oestrogens and other chemicals in food and the environment. Copies of the report are available in the Library. The report made a number of research recommendations which Departments are considering.