George Eustice answers questions on organophosphates
Compulsory annual sheep dipping ended in 1992.
Defra minister George Eustice has said he will not meet the Sheep Dip Sufferers Support Group (SDSSG) again to discuss the health impacts of organophosphate (OP) sheep dips.
Mr Eustice met representatives from the group last year to hear concerns about farmers who say they have suffered ill health following the use of OPs, which farmers were required to use until 1992.
Responding to five written questions submitted by Neil Parish MP, Mr Eustice said: 'The Committee on Toxicity has looked at this issue exhaustively, examining 26 different studies over a period of more than a decade, and concluded that in the absence of acute poisoning there would not be meaningful long-term effects.
"To the best of my knowledge there is no new scientific evidence available that would alter this conclusion. I am sympathetic to farmers suffering from ill health but at this time I do not feel a further meeting would be beneficial."
Mr Eustice was asked to estimate the number of farmers that have reported illnesses relating to OP sheep dip exposure since 1990. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has recorded 634 reports of suspected adverse reactions in humans to OP dips since records began in 1985.
"To the best of the VMD's knowledge this is the most comprehensive dataset available," he added.
Mr Parish questioned the reasons for the introduction of the Sheep Scab (Revocation) Order 1992, which ended the compulsory annual sheep dipping requirement.
In a letter to Tom Rigby of the SDSSG in May, Mr Eustice stated that no evidence had been found to suggest that human health fears played a part in the decision to end compulsory dipping. Research by the independent Committee on Toxicity also found no evidence that low-level exposure causes long-term health effects, he noted.
Having searched 'hundreds of records stretching back to the 1980s', Mr Eustice said he had found 'documented evidence that compulsory dipping was ended because eradication of the disease had become unrealistic and individual outbreaks could be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.'
SDSSG last month called on MPs to launch an official inquiry into concerns that some farmers and farm workers were poisoned by OP sheep dips before the legal requirement to use them ended. The group is seeking better diagnosis and treatment for sufferers, as well as official recognition from the government. Symptoms reported range from nausea, headaches, flu-like signs and dizziness, to more long-term neurological effects.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
