HC Deb 22 January 2001 vol 361 cc457-8W
Ms Atherton

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent research the Government have(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated regarding the health effects of landfill sites; and if he will make a statement. [146160]

Mr. Mullin

In 1999 the Government commissioned the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) to conduct a broad-based study on health outcomes of people living near landfill sites. The study is designed to determine whether there is a statistical association between the location of landfill sites and the rates of certain adverse health effects in the nearby population. This report is now expected in summer 2001.

In addition, in September 1999 the Government announced a programme of research to investigate the possible impacts on human health of landfill sites throughout the UK. The following studies have since been commissioned: a review of the potential teratogenicity of substances emanating from landfill sites; a review of the known causes of congenital malformations; and a study of the geographical variation in overall rates of congenital abnormalities and the rates of specific abnormalities.

In 1998 the Government's independent expert committee, the Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) reviewed the results of the EUROHAZCON study on the risk of congenital abnormalities near hazardous waste landfill sites in Europe (Dolk et al, 2000, The Lancet, volume 352, pp 423-427) and an assessment by Fielder et al of the impact on health of residents living near the Nant-y-Gwyddon landfill site in South Wales (subsequently published in the British Medical Journal, 2000, volume 320, pp 19-22). The COT agreed with the author of the EUROHAZCON study that there was a need for further investigation. The full assessment can be found in the COT' s Annual Report for 1998, available in the Library or on the Department of Health website at www.doh.gov.uk/coc.htm#annual.