HL Deb 02 July 1996 vol 573 c95WA
The Countess of Mar

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the BSE Advisory Committee has considered alternative links between the cases of CJD in young people, such as exposure to toxic chemicals used in agriculture or domestic situations and, in particular, combinations of toxic chemicals, or exposure of their mothers to toxic chemicals during pregnancy.

Baroness Cumberlege

On current data, and in the absence of any credible alternative, the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee's (SEAC) advice is that the most likely explanation is that Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in young people (18 years and over) is linked to exposure to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy before the introduction of the Specified Bovine Offals ban in 1989. The Chairman of SEAC has also said that "other causes are possible, and we are continuing to try to identify possible candidates".