WRITTEN QUESTION No. 956/97 by Gianni TAMINO to the Commission. EULEP project and experiments on animals
Date: 1997-03-13
Institutions: European Parliament, TAMINO
Subjects: EU aid, EU programme, Italy, Nuclear Energy Agency, animal experimentation, nuclear fission, nuclear safety, public health, radiation protection, research policy













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91997E0956

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 956/97 by Gianni TAMINO to the Commission. EULEP project and experiments on animals  


Official Journal C 319 , 18/10/1997 P. 0205 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0956/97 by Gianni Tamino (V) to the Commission (13 March 1997)Subject: EULEP project and experiments on animalsIn June 1993, the ENEA notified the relevant authorities, in accordance with the Italian legislation on animal experiments, that it was conducting experiments at the Casaccia-Roma CRE on 500 mice in order to study the effects of small doses of ionizing radiation, as part of the European EULEP project funded by the Commission.Is the Commission aware of these experiments? How much financial assistance was provided and what innovative results were obtained? Is the Commission aware that these tests, in which the animals were irradiated with a beam of fission neutrons, were carried out without using anaesthetics, without applying for permission not to use them in accordance with Italian law and without the laboratory having received the necessary authorization - on the date of the notification - from the Italian Ministry of Health?Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (24 April 1997)The Commission has supported the European late effects project group (EULEP) via the Nuclear fission safety programme in 1993 to stimulate the interaction between research workers studying the late effects of ionising radiation. The research group at the European nuclear energy agency (ENEA) were supported, in 1993, as one partner in a multinational contract to study the induction of cancer by low doses of neutron radiation using mice. The contribution to the ENEA laboratory was ECU 80 000 for a period of 21 months.Results from animal studies contribute to the assessment of the risk to man from exposure to neutron radiation for which there is very little information from epidemiology. Scientific risk assessment is the basis for the preparation of Community legislation such as the Commission's directive laying down the basic safety standards for the health protection of the general public and workers against the dangers of ionising radiation ((doc. COM(90) 328. )).Ionising radiation cannot be detected by any of the normal senses. Consequently, the mice would not feel the neutron irradiation and would, therefore, not need to be anaesthetised. After exposure the animals were followed until they died naturally.The Commission expects contractors to execute the research within the relevant legal and ethical restrictions but would not normally be aware of specific situations. The group at ENEA requested permission to do the experiments on 2 June 1993 in response to the provisional explanatory circular from the Italian Ministry of health issued in April 1993. The final circular was issued by the Ministry on the 22 April 1994. The group continues to adapt to conform with the requirements of the Italian Ministry of health as these have evolved during the recent years.