To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State's letter—DOH(6)4362/92—of 12 May to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, what is the result of the investigations of chemicals which might contribute to germ-line variation. [40460]

Investigations into the germ-line effects pursuant to the findings in children born in Belarus contaminated by the Chernobyl accident are being carried out under the European Union radiation fission safety programme. New studies will attempt to avoid possible confounding factors by using a local control population. These studies are likely to continue for some years before publication of results.