Fire risk to F&M drivers
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• Concern was growing this week about the health risks to drivers exposed to pollutants produced from the fires that are being used to destroy animals infected with foot and mouth.
Pollutants called dioxins are known to cause a disfiguring skin condition called chloracne. Persistent exposure can also cause cancer in animals, according to the World Health Organisation.
The Road Haulage Association says the issue is a "matter of considerable concern". Roger Wrapson, secretary of the RHA livestock group, says: "It was decided that it was better to burn the animals than to bury them but nobody knows the conse
quences, and it is something we might live to regret."
But the Freight Transport Association, which has helped co-ordinate the massive transport operation, believes that drivers could be protected by the controls in place when moving animal carcasses. "They are all rigged out in special kit and are not permitted to even get out of the vehicle at the point of collection," says a spokesman.
As CMwent to press the Department of Health was poised to publish guidance notes after intense pressure from affected communities across the country including the Forest of Dean, Northumberland and Cumbria.