CITIZEN readers may be interested to know the latest scientific opinion on the potential health risks of burning cattle culled in the BSE crisis.

This evidence has been sent to Lancaster City Council to try and persuade them to change their minds after they've given permission to Nightingale Hall Farm for tallow burning - but this evidence appears to have been ignored.

In his evidence to the BSE enquiry on March 30, consultant neurologist Prof Colchester says he's "very concerned that the risk to humans from the rendering process and its products have still not been fully evaluated and the precautionary principle is not being applied. Regulations allow processes to continue which could be a source of infection."

He says the only study done on the safety of tallow (by Taylor 1997) looked at whether it was infective when rendered at high and low temperatures. It wasn't, but the study did not look at batch atmospheric rendering of tallow, which is what happens at rendering plants like Nightingale Hall Farm. Prof Colchester says that this is crucial because whether the BSE agent - the prion protien - is absorbed or not depends on how the tallow is rendered.

He also says that breathing in any dust (of meat and bonemeal) or minute droplets (of tallow) is much riskier than eating infected beef since "intranasal inhalation of dust or droplets... should be taken seriously and the infective dose would be very much smaller than by the oral route." So if you're close to a rendering plant burning BSE infected tallow - make sure you don't breathe through your nose.

In my opinion Lancaster councillors chose to ignore this crucial new evidence because they're afraid of being surcharged if they refuse permission to burn tallow. They're worried the company will sue them for commercial losses because it's cheaper to burn tallow than heavy oil.

No-one knows for sure, either way, if tallow could infect people with the BSE agent - but we're going to find out because the council has agreed to let it be burnt in Lancaster. Ever heard of the expression - better safe than sorry?

Environmental Health Chairman Jerry Sutton said he'd reconsider the decision to allow tallow burning if any new evidence came to light. It has and it's been ignored.

If you want the council to change its mind, write to Mr Sutton care of the town hall, Dalton Square, and make your views known.

C Daniels,

Green Street.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.