§ Mr. TippingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the research he has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the relationship between electromagnetic fields and child leukaemia; if he will place copies of that research in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [15633]
§ Mr. HoramCommissioned research relation to electromagnetic fields and childhood leukaemia includes
741Wa direct Department of Health contribution to the United Kingdom childhood cancer study—a five-year prospective study of childhood cancer being undertaken by the UK Coordinating Committee on Cancer Research—to which a substantial effort is also being devoted by the National Radiological Protection Board, which advises Government on radiation hazards;a study by the NRPB, shortly to be published, of the possible effects of exposure to mains frequency EMF on the proliferation of cultured human cells;NRPB-funded work at Oxford university investigating the possibility that weak EMF might damage genetic material.The Department is currently considering a number of other research projects for funding which bear on EMF and possible health effects.In addition, a major evaluation of scientific publications on EMF and cancer has been undertaken by the NRPB's advisory group on non-ionising radiation under the chairmanship of Sir Richard Doll and was published in 1992. The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment has endorsed the advisory group's report. Two brief supplementary reports, in 1993 and 1994, were published by the NRPB to take into account the results of epidemiological studies from Scandinavia and Canada. Copies of the advisory group's report and the supplementary documents are available in the Library.
The Department will continue to monitor the results of all research closely, and to maintain its support for research in these areas, consulting NRPB and COMARE as necessary.