German pharmaceutical giant Bayer A G has disclosed plans to use data collected by testing pesticides on human beings. The tests, which came in for severe criticism, were conducted by the company in 1998. But Bayer has also announced that it will not be reviving trials on humans, which are currently banned in the us. "We haven't done it since 1998. I don't foresee any new case where we plan to do this kind of study,' company spokesperson Peter Kraus said.

Environmental groups had criticised the 1998 study conducted by Bayer in which the Inveresk research laboratory in Scotland tested a pesticide on around 50 volunteers. According to reports, a volunteer had claimed that he was not told the chemical azinphosmethyl was a pesticide and had later fallen sick. However, the company maintains that the subjects were informed about the trials.

Sources said that the tests were conducted as part of Bayer's strategy to force the us Environmental Protection Agency (usepa) to reverse pesticide controls introduced to protect children. The key finding of the study which said the pesticide tests had