Consumer Products (Control of Biocides) Bill [HL]

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 17th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, from cosmetics and personal care items to treated clothing, biocides are increasingly found in products that we all use regularly. I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, for tabling this Bill to enable us to consider that in more detail.

While biocides have their place in specific essential applications, their widespread and often unnecessary inclusion in everyday products poses a significant threat to public health, contributing to the growing global crisis of antimicrobial resistance. We have heard today about the current impact on resistant diseases. The World Health Organization has identified AMR as one of the most urgent health crises of our time; unless we take action, it could lead to an estimated 10 million deaths annually by 2050.

Biocides and consumer goods, especially those that are not strictly necessary, contribute to this alarming trend. Many products containing biocides do not deliver any real health benefit and may in fact do more harm than good, undermining their effectiveness in driving antimicrobial resistance. Just one example is the concern around the use of silver, as we heard today, as an antimicrobial agent in period pants, where high levels could have health and environmental implications. In addition to the problems highlighted by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, in her introduction, the US Food and Drug Administration found that nanosilver can kill lactobacillus, the healthy bacteria in the vagina that helps fight off infection. That can put women more at risk of harmful bacteria, potentially leading to an increased risk of bacterial infections and pregnancy complications. In the UK there are currently no legal limits on how much silver can be added to period pants, and manufacturers do not have to declare the presence of silver on their packaging or website.

We are seeing other countries take measures to ban some biocides from consumer products, and it is right that we are looking at our regulatory system carefully to ensure that it is fit for purpose. Of course we must protect against regulation that would stifle innovation or limit products that genuinely benefit consumer health, and there certainly are legitimate uses for biocides, as we have heard. I am reassured that the Bill provides specific exemptions for proven medical products.

Clause 3 would establish a biocidal consumer products advisory board to advise Ministers on biocides. I share my noble friend Lady Anelay’s aversion to quangos, but I am also a great believer in expert advice, particularly on complex scientific matters such as this. I am interested to hear the Minister’s thoughts on this. Does he agree that this expert advice would be beneficial to Ministers when making decisions in this area?

Clause 6 looks to address the issues around the marketing of false or unproved claims. Consumers must have transparency from manufacturers. I agree with the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, that the responsibility for this should be considered to be put at the manufacturers’ door. We regularly see messages about the importance of antibacterial or antimicrobial properties in consumer products, and we have the right to know what ingredients are in the products we buy and if they genuinely offer significant health benefits. We should also have the option to choose products that are free from unnecessary chemicals. While there is existing consumer protection against misleading and deceptive commercial practices, I can certainly see the case for more specific guidance here.

As my noble friend Lady Anelay set out, there are existing protections for consumers and we must be very careful not to overregulate, duplicate or complicate the existing regulation. But we must move towards responsible biocide use, ensuring that they are used only when they are truly necessary and excluding them from products that do not require antimicrobial action. The Bill gives us the opportunity to consider our current framework and whether we should be strengthening regulations around the use of biocides in consumer goods, to ensure that the products marketed for daily use are safe and effective but do not contribute to AMR. I look forward to the Minister’s response.