§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what assessment he has made of the health implications of the cocktail effect of exposure to several different types of biocides; [104526]
416W(2) what steps he takes to protect citizens from the cocktail effect of exposure to several different types of biocides. [104525]
§ Ms Quin[holding answer 13 January 2000]: The possibility of interactions with other pesticides is considered before approval is given to a particular pesticide. Possible synergistic effects of the joint toxicity of pesticide active ingredients are addressed by requesting data on the toxicity of new pesticide products that contain more than one active ingredient.
The pesticide regulatory authorities have also examined more broadly the possibility of synergistic effects of pesticides several times. The Advisory Committee on Pesticides considered the matter in the early 1990s and advised that possible interactions of pesticides were at worst additive rather than synergistic. In 1994 MAFF commissioned a literature review of the possible synergistic effects of mixes of active ingredients. The results of this review supported the Advisory Committee's earlier conclusion.
More recently, the interaction between the effects of chemicals was also considered by the Department of Health's Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment as part of their review of organophosphates. The Committee advised that interactions resulting from altered metabolism are, in general, only important at relatively high exposure levels, since at low levels there is usually sufficient metabolic capacity to cope with the multiple exposures with efficient detoxification and elimination of all compounds.