asked the Minister for Agriculture if statistics exist showing the volume of chemicals utilised in food growing and production and in livestock rearing; the regulations, if any, governing the use of such chemicals; and if he will make a statement on the safety of consumer health in this regard.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Use of Chemicals.
30.
Detailed statistics on the matters referred to are not available. It is believed, however, that at present the quantity of active ingredients in the volume of chemical pesticides used is about 1,500 tonnes. The basic plant nutrients contained in the artificial fertilisers used in food growing in the 1977-78 season amounted to approximately 230,000 tonnes of nitrogen (N), 76,000 tonnes of phosphorus (P) and 170,000 tonnes of potash (K).
As regards regulations on the use of chemicals in agricultural production I shall, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, circulate with the Official Report a list of the main legislation involved.
While I have certain control functions relating to such matters as pesticide chemical residues in fruit and vegetables and the use of antibiotics in animal feeding stuffs the question of consumer safety is primarily a matter for the Minister for Health.
Following is the list referred to: Poisons Act, 1961; Poisons Act, 1961 (Paraquat) Regulations, 1975; European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Fruit and Vegetables) Regulations, 1979; Animal Remedies Act, 1956; Animal Remedies (Control of Oestrogenic Substances) Regulations, 1962; Animal and Poultry Compound Feeding Stuffs (Control of Antibiotics) Regulations, 1972; Animal Remedies (Control of Chloramphenicol) Regulations, 1974; European Communities (Feeding Stuffs) (Additives) Regulations, 1974 and 1979.
Is the Minister satisfied with the situation that there is not a comprehensive set of regulations governing the residues in meat and other items of food consumed and is this not a situation that deserves attention urgently?
It is a matter that requires a good deal of vigilance. In the context of our relatively small use of pesticides and substances of that kind the element of danger from it is small.
The Minister began his reply by saying that the figures requested were not easily available. In view of the increasing promotion of chemicals and all kinds of artificial compounds in food products, would the Minister agree that regulations and detailed monitoring by his Department are essential if public health is to be protected?
It would be almost impossible to work out a simple regulation that would give effective control over the abuse of substances of this kind having regard to the wide diversity of the usage to which various substances are put. In the case of antibiotic preparations for use in bovine mastitis, there are regulations within the creameries and milk intake points supervising the quantities or traces of these residues in milk because they have a detrimental effect. This factor is carefully supervised. The quantities or residual pesticides and injurious substances of that kind in Irish food products is less than it is in any other country within the EEC.
Is the Minister aware that there is a danger in the use of antibiotics in that if these are present in food consumed by humans, as a result of their having been administered to animals, humans may be resistant to antibiotics in the event of their becoming ill? Does the Minister agree that there is need to tighten up legislation, in the interest of human health, on the use of antibiotics?
If this becomes apparent, corrective measures would need to be taken and that would fall within the ambit of the Minister for Health.
Is the Minister aware that there are a number of antibiotics which could have been used on humans a few years ago and which now cannot be used because humans are no longer sensitive to them because of their presence in food consumed?
That phenomenon is common to all pesticides, antibiotics or organic pesticides of that kind. The organisms against which they are used inevitably build up an immunity towards the substance which is being used against them. If the same substance is being used on humans the same immunity builds up. The degree of build-up in humans deriving from food sources would be so infinitesimal as to be negligible.
That is not the medical opinion.