Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

[**Avis juridique important**](../../../editorial/legal_notice.htm)

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# 91998E1227

**WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1227/98 by Marie-Paule KESTELIJN- SIERENS to the Commission. Health impact of kerosene** 
  
*Official Journal C 354 , 19/11/1998 P. 0081*

  

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1227/98 by Marie-Paule Kestelijn-Sierens (ELDR) to the Commission (29 April 1998)

Subject: Health impact of kerosene

Does the Commission have accurate data on the harmful effect of kerosene? If so, to what extent is it harmful? Is it true that kerosene, one ingredient of which is benzene, may cause leukaemia and cancer of the respiratory tract? Is the data which the Commission possesses in this connection generally available?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (22 June 1998)

The Iuclid database of the Commission contains toxicological data on kerosene and these data are available to the public.

Kerosene, a petroleum fraction with benzene as one of its components (less than 5%), has until now not been classified as to its carcinogenicity to humans ('Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans', International agency for research on cancer). There is limited evidence for the carcinogenicity in experimental animals (e.g. skin tumours in mice). Recent epidemiological studies on the potential carcinogenic effects of kerosene (e.g. lung cancer) did not provide conclusive results.

The programme on biomedical and health research (Biomed 2) is supporting a project on 'Exposure to low levels of benzene, interindividual biological variability and cancer risks', which is coordinated by the National Cancer Research Institute in Genoa and will provide results in 2001.

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