Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to assess the costs of ill health caused by exposure to pesticides in the UK.
Pesticides are only authorised for use if a scientific risk assessment shows that they are not expected to have a harmful effect on human health. Individual risk assessments are reviewed at regular intervals, and the risk assessment process is kept up to date at EU and national level to ensure that it reflects new knowledge and the latest research. There are established monitoring schemes, such as that operated by the National Poisons Information Service, which are designed to pick up possible health effects. The results from these schemes indicate that the authorisation system is working as intended.