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The faulty breast implants at the centre of a health scare are up to six times as likely to rupture as other brands - but do not cause cancer.

The ruling, by a panel of experts investigating the safety of the Frech-made PIP implants, was revealed today.

Their analysis revealed that although the devices could cause irritation, there was
no evidence that the gel inside was toxic or were carciogenic.

Lawyers said official acknowledgement that the implants are sub-standard clears the way for women to sue.

Up to 47,000 British women, most of whom were private patients, were fitted with the controversial implants which were fraudulently filled with an industrial-grade silicone.

The investigation, led by the NHS’s medical director, included specially-commissioned tests on toxicity.

It found that although the implants are between two and six times as likely to perish or break open than other brands, their contents do not pose any long-term threat to health.

The report found PIP implants had between six and 12 per cent chance of rupturing after five years rising to 30 per cent after 10 years.

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, led the surgeons, statisticians and ethicists who put together the report. It was based on data from 240,000 implants of differing brands that had been given to 130,000 women in England.

Professor Keogh said he hoped its conclusions would put patients’ minds at rest. It acknowledges that simple anxiety can be a real risk to a woman’s health - and reiterates the advice that the health service will remove implants put in privately but not replace them.

Professor Keogh said: ‘This has been an incredibly worrying time for women. We have been determined to look thoroughly at all available evidence so we are able to give them the best clinical advice possible.

‘Repeated tests on different batches of PIP implants have been carried out in the UK, France and Australia according to international standards.

‘Those tests have shown that the implants are not toxic and therefore we do not believe they are a threat to the long-term health of women who have PIP implants.

‘I sincerely hope this helps to reassure women that their long- term health is not at risk.’ 

However, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons said that women should still have them out.

Nigel Mercer, the association’s past president, said that although while industrial filling does not kill cells, it can still pose problems, with leaks triggering the formation of golf ball-sized lumps in the arm pits.

Mr Mercer said: ‘Our position is that these are sub-standard implants and should not be in the human body.
‘If a member of my family had them, I’d want them out.’

Lawyers said official acknowledgement that the implants are sub-standard clears the way for women to sue.

Mark Harvey, a partner at Hugh James Solicitors in Cardiff, said: 

‘We again call on the private implanting clinics to take responsibility for this scandal and remove and replace free of charge all the PIP breast implants that they have fitted.

‘We would also now expect the clinics to agree to compensate our clients without further argument as to whether these products are not fit for purpose or of satisfactory quality.’