HC Deb 11 March 1997 vol 292 cc200-1W
Mr. Martyn Jones

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what mechanisms were put in place to monitor the(a) purpose and (b) quantity of use of lindane since its relicensing in 1996; and if he will make a statement. [19292]

Mrs. Browning

A full review of the agricultural uses of lindane was completed by the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides in 1996. The committee concluded that when approved pesticides containing lindane were used properly they posed no unacceptable risk. The committee therefore recommended, and Ministers accepted, that approvals should continue.

Monitoring of all agricultural pesticides including lindane continues to be carried out by the working party on pesticide usage surveys. Monitoring indicates purpose of use, as well as quantity used, and covers all sectors of agriculture in a four-year rolling cycle, though arable crops are surveyed every other year. The results are published in the MAFF publications series; the arable survey—which covers most lindane uses—for 1996 is due to be published this autumn.

Mr. Jones

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will commission research into the threat to human health from the use of lindane; and if he will make a statement. [19293]

Mrs. Browning

Lindane is used in both agriculture and non-agricultural pesticides. To allow authorisation of such compounds, companies must supply comprehensive scientific information for evaluation by the Government's independent advisers. In the case of lindane, there is also considerable information available from other sources.

The pesticidal uses of lindane have recently been comprehensively reviewed on the basis of these data. Human health issues were fully considered by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides and specific aspects by the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment and the Committee on Mutagenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. Following advice from the committees, Ministers concluded that when approved pesticides containing lindane were used in accordance with their conditions of approval they posed no unacceptable risk.