Day 039 - 20 Oct 94 - Page 58
1 MR. MORRIS: It is point 6 in the text. It is the second page
2 of the text.
3 A. Which is the fourth page of the document taken as a
4 whole. Yes, that does suggest that, indeed, the evidence
5 -- yes, the studies were carried out, some studies carried
6 out on Potassium Bromate conducted in Japan between 1982
7 and 1987.
8
9 Q. Is there any particular relevance?
10 A. I think it seems -----
11
12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It supports your chronology?
13 A. Yes. Since Potassium Bromate has been withdrawn from
14 use and no one is contesting that it is a genotoxic
15 carcinogen, and no one is contesting that small residues
16 were present, one has to conclude that, given it is a
17 genotoxic carcinogen, in so far as it was ingested with
18 baked products prior to its being banned, that consumption
19 may have put the health of consumers at risk. Doubtless,
20 we are all included in that because it was very widely used
21 throughout the baking industry.
22
23 MR. MORRIS: It is a fact, is it, that any genotoxic carcinogen,
24 one molecule can potentially cause cancer?
25 A. That is the assumption upon which pretty much all
26 toxicologists currently operate. That is certainly the
27 assumption with which I operate.
28
29 Q. I think that leaves Potassium Bromate. We have not got the
30 report, have we, from New Zealand about people dying after
31 eating contaminated sugar?
32 A. I do not believe I have.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That sounds like a most unfortunate mishap.
35 A. Contamination.
36
37 MR. MORRIS: OK. Styrene is the last.
38
39 THE WITNESS: I do not have the material on styrene here.
40 I have it in my briefcase.
41
42 Q. I think to be helpful, Professor Walker accepted --
43 I cannot find his exact words -- that styrene is possibly
44 carcinogenic in humans and that styrene oxide is more
45 hazardous. I think those were the words he used; I may be
46 corrected. Could you give us a quick summary on styrene
47 and its implications in this case?
48 A. Let me be very brief. As I indicated on the fax that
49 I sent to you earlier this week, I have not had time to
50 scrutinize this compound in great detail, but I have
51 obtained just two documents which are the JECFA, Joint
52 Expert Committee Evaluation in 1984, in which it seemed to
53 me the key sentence is on page 172, where they state that
54 styrene is metabolized by the mixed function oxidase system
55 to styrene-7, 8-oxide. This occurs not only in the liver
56 but in a number of other tissues and types and organs.
57 "But" instead of "by" in that sentence. I then obtained
58 ----
59
60 Q. You are quoting directly from your statement?
