Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 24 May 2001

Vol. 537 No. 1

Written Answers. - Cancer Incidence.

John Bruton

Question:

136 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will identify the peer-renewed scientific literature and consultation with experts which enabled him to conclude in his answer to Parliamentary Question No. 163 of 17 May 2001 that no evidence exists to establish a link between exposure to lindane and breast cancer; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that figures show a 40% higher breast cancer rate in Lincolnshire, a vegetable and potato growing part of England; and if he will carry out a comparison of breast cancer rates in geographic concentrations of vegetable growing areas of Ireland where lindane is likely to be used. [15450/01]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

The process of consultation with the peer-reviewed scientific literature involves examination of the MEDLINE database which contains material from 1966 to the present day and covers over three thousand journals and many millions of articles. It is maintained by the national library of medicine in the United States and is universally recognised as an authoritative source of evidence which has been subjected to peer-review scrutiny. No papers were identified from this source which support the conclusion that a causal link between exposure to lindane in the forms suggested and breast cancer exists. Consultation with Irish experts in the field confirms this view.

Breast cancer is a multifactorial disease and is one of the commonest cancers in this country. Variations in the number of cases seen in local areas do occur for reasons other than being related to variations in the underlying causes of cancer. The national cancer registry provides data on cancer occurrence between 1994 and 1997. These data do not support the hypothesis that there are significant regional variations in the occurrence of breast cancer. There is, therefore, not a case to be made for a study as suggested.