§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what checks are presently carried out on(a) approved chemicals and (b) chemicals for which approval is sought to assess their potential for endocrine disruption. [47779]
§ Angela EaglePesticides represent the major class of chemicals for which formal approval is required before they can be used and which may be present in the environment. The UK Control of Pesticides Regulations (COPR) (1986) (amended) is currently operated alongside the EC Plant Protection Products Directive (91/414/EEC), which is implemented in the UK by the Plant Protection Products Regulations (1995) (amended). Annex II to the Directive states that possible effects on all aspects of reproductive physiology in both males and females, as well as possible effects on pre-natal and post-natal development, must be investigated and reported.
Approved chemicals are subject to a review procedure, which may include assessment of their endocrine disrupting potential.
For veterinary medicines, all applications for marketing authorisations must meet statutory criteria of safety, quality and efficacy. In this context, safety includes to the operator as well as the health and welfare of the treated animal, to the consumer of any food products from treated animals and to the environment.
§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent research the Government have initiated into endocrine disrupting chemicals. [47777]
§ Angela EagleNew research programmes, totalling over £3 million, to study (a) trends in male reproductive health and the possible influence of chemicals and (b) endocrine disruption in the marine environment have been initiated jointly by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, other Government Departments and Agencies and the European Chemical Industry Council.
90WIn addition, DETR has initiated research into non-reproductive effects of endocrine disruption in wildlife and recently contributed to an Environment Agency led study of the effects of endocrine disrupters on reproduction in wild fish.
Government Departments and Agencies also support a range of projects on chemicals with known or suspected endocrine disrupting properties including tributyltin (TBT), dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the chemicals(a) known to cause endocrine disruption and (b) suspected of causing endocrine disruption. [47778]
§ Angela EagleThe Institute for Environment and Health and the Environment Agency have listed some individual substances within the following chemical categories as having endocrine disrupting activity; naturally produced female sex steroid hormones, synthetic steroid hormones, phytoestrogens (naturally occurring chemicals found in plans), polychlorinated organic compounds, organochlorine pesticides, organotins, alkylphenols, alkylphenol ethoxylates (short chain), phthalates and biphenolic compounds. Within each category there are also related substances suspected of having endocrine activity, but for which the data are not yet adequate to allow a definitive conclusion.
Other categories of substances, including some pesticides, are also suspected of having endocrine disrupting activity.