§ Mr. CatonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the conclusion of the International Agency for Research on Cancer at their meeting in Lyon, February 4 to 11, 1997, on the classification of TCDD as a known human carcinogen. [87842]
§ Mr. MealeThe Department of Health Advisory Committee on the Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COC) reviewed the conclusion of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to classify 2,3,7,8-TCDD as a known human carcinogen in 1998. The COC concluded that there are insufficient epidemiological and toxicological data on TCDD to conclude a causal link with cancer in humans, but it would be prudent to consider TCDD as a 'probable weak human carcinogen'. A copy of the full COC statement is being deposited in the Library of the House.