§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 November 2000,Official Report, column 741W, on mustard gas and pigs, whether the company testing the model cream for treating mustard gas burns is a British company; whether untreated controls are being run; and how many and what species of animals were used in (a) 1998, (b) 1999 and (c) 2000 to date. [140725]
§ Dr. MoonieThe purpose of the on-going work involving mustard gas and pigs at the Chemical and Biological Defence Sector of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) is to develop better protection for UK servicemen should mustard gas be used as a weapon against them. All testing, including that for the cream for protection against mustard gas injury, is carried out by DERA at Porton Down.
Each animal acts as its own control. That is, a small amount of mustard is applied to sites on the back that both have, and have not, been pre-treated with the protective barrier cream.
All the animals involved are large, white domestic pigs. The study involved six animals per year for 1998 and 1999, and a total of ten animals in 2000 to the current date.