Sheep dip use to be limited to qualified farmers

SHEEP DIPS present a serious potential risk to the health of farmers when they are not handled with great care, it was acknowledged by the Government yesterday.

In future, farmers will have to qualify for a certificate of competence if they wish to use organophosphorous dips, the type considered to carry greatest risk.

Gillian Shephard, the Minister of Agriculture, said that there is no scientific justification for banning the use of sheep dips, but she would have had no hesitation in banning them if she had been advised to do so. Sheep dips will be controlled under the medicines legislation, and they will only be permitted to be sold to, and used by, those with a certificate of competence.

The new regulations were devised by the Government's Veterinary Products Committee, chaired by Professor James Armour of Glasgow University. The committee heard evidence from medical specialists who examined 266 cases of people who believed that they had suffered side effects from exposure to sheep dips.

They found a possible link with sheep dip in only 58 of the people and were unable to establish a definite link in any. Of the 58 linked to dipping only three had worn protective clothing while using the dip.

However a Department of Health toxicologist, Derek Renshaw, said that mild influenza-like symptoms in people using organophosphorous sheep dips may be common but seldom reported, and that they were seeing only the tip of the iceberg. The long-term effects, if any, of such low-level exposure are not known and difficult to establish. The Government is providing funds for research to examine the possibility of any long-term effects.

Dipping protects sheep from scab and blowfly attack which not only cause the animals distress but reduce the commercial value of their hides. Since dipping of sheep ceased to be compulsory last year leather manufacturers say that 60 per

cent of British sheep skins have been found to have damage from parasites.

The certificate of competence will be introduced next April and will be necessary for farmers who want to dip their sheep next season. It will teach farmers how to construct dip areas with reduced splash, what protective clothing to wear, how to select sheep that need to be dipped rather than dipping the whole flock, and how to dispose of the spent dip so that it does not contaminate surface water.