HC Deb 05 March 1996 vol 273 c188W
Mr. Martyn Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on links between lindane usage and population cancer clusters. [18728]

Mr. Horam

The Department of Health's independent expert advisory Committee on the Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment reviewed the available epidemiological data on breast cancer in women and levels of lindane in serum and breast fat tissue at its meeting on the 16 March 1995. The committee concluded that there was no clear evidence of an association between serum and levels of lindane in fat and breast cancer at the present time, and recommended that the matter be kept under review. No research has been specifically commissioned by the Department.