"The cumulative effects of being exposed to many different pesticides over a lifetime represent an unquantified and unacceptable risk to all Canadian children." That unequivocal statement comes from the Environmental Standard Setting and Children's Health Report, released in 2000 by the Ontario College of Family Physicians and the Canadian Environmental Law Association part of the Children's Environmental Health Project.
CALGARY URGED TO BAN PESTICIDES
By The Calgary Herald May 23, 2008
The Canadian Cancer Society said that Calgary should move ahead with a ban on pesticides, arguing exposure to chemicals in the products are linked with leukemia and several other cancers. "The society says studies have linked pesticide exposure to several types of cancer, including leukemia, lung cancer, brain cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and pancreatic cancer."
Source: CalgaryHerald
* * *
THE TRUTH ABOUT PESTICIDES
The Quebec Poison Control Centre and the Quebec Ministry of Environment and Wildlife released statistics on pesticide poisoning in 1996. They reported a staggering 1,650 poisoning cases. 79.4% of the cases were in private homes, and 46.1% of the victims were children under age five. 31% of these cases were due to oral ingestion, and 34.9% followed a pesticide application (1) (Sierra Club.ca)
On June 28, 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada, in a landmark decision, upheld the town of Hudson, Quebec’s bylaw 207, which bans pesticide use on public and private property for aesthetic purposes. The bylaw had been challenged in the Quebec courts and then at the Supreme Court by lawn pesticide companies after they were charged with violating the ban. The court’s decision goes farther than simply upholding Hudson's bylaws. It points out that the relevant pieces of legislation in other provinces have wording that is comparable. Correctly worded bylaws in other parts of Canada could enjoy the same interpretation as the Hudson bylaw. The Sierra Club of Canada has drafted regionally specific bylaws that citizens can take to their local councils to ban or restrict pesticides.
Forty-eight communities across Canada have already established bylaws banning the use of cosmetic pesticides on public and private greenspaces. Parks in the resort municipality of Whistler are now "pesticide free". RMOW parks have long been pesticide free, what’s new is that the "high maintenance" planting boxes in the village are now also pesticide free. BC Rail will also respect Whistler as a "pesticide free" zone, due in large part to the efforts of the RMOW Engineering Department. A growing group of physicians, scientists and environmentalists worldwide have been emphatic in their warnings to governments and the public. Their warnings suggest that the vast majority of these chemicals are linked to a host of childhood and adult cancers as well as numerous other diseases and developmental problems. The Ontario College of Family Physicians, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, members of the Canada Health Advisory Council, Dr. David Suzuki and countless environmental groups are among the Canadians who support this position. If your community is not one of those that has banned the cosmetic use of pesticides on lawns, school grounds and parks, join with other like-minded folk and urge them to do so as soon as possible. The report Poisoned Schools: Invisible Threats, Visible Actions was released by the Center for Health, Environment and Justice in March 2001. It is available at Chej.org. Unthinkable Risk: How Children are Exposed and Harmed When Pesticides are Used at School released in April 2000 is available from the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) at Pesticide.org.
* * *
EPA HED Cancer Assessment Review Committee (CARC) A Consultation on the EPA Health Effect Division's Proposed Classification of the Human Carcinogenic Potential of Malathion "...classified the organophosphate pesticide malathion as "suggestive" (Page 6 of this report). This is the final report from the August 2000 FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel Meeting"
HEDS is the Human Exposure Database System, an integrated database system that contains chemical measurements, questionnaire responses, documents, and other information related to EPA research studies of the exposure of people to Environmental contaminants.
* * *
HealthyLegacy.org reports that according to the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), 95% of the pesticides used on lawns are classified as possible or probable carcinogens. Pesticide use has also been tied to brain tumors and fatal non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Studies have shown that children raised in homes where pesticides are used regularly are six times more likely to develop childhood cancer than children who are not exposed.1 Pesticides are poisons and can harm organisms other than those targeted, including your children. By their very nature, pesticides are not safe; and it is illegal for a company to tell you otherwise.
NON-HODGKIN'S LYMPHOMA
ZeroWaste.ca reports that in 1999 European researchers found that Swedish sufferers of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were 2.7 times more likely to have been exposed to the herbicide MCPA (found in weed and feed type products) and 2.3 times more likely to have been exposed to the herbicide glyphosate (Round-Up).
* * *
PESTICIDE-INDUCED DISEASE DATABASE
The common diseases affecting the public’s health are all too well-known in the 21st century: asthma, autism and learning disabilities, birth defects and reproductive dysfunction, diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, and several types of cancer. Their connection to pesticide exposure continues to strengthen despite efforts to restrict individual chemical exposure, or mitigate chemical risks, using risk assessment-based policy. Visit BeyondPeesticides.org for more information.
WHAT TO DO IN A PESTICIDE EMERGENCY -- PESTICIDE DRIFT AND INJURY
1. The first step is to notify people who might be spraying in your area that you are concerned about exposure to pesticides. Tell them you don't want to be exposed to pesticides through drift, runoff, or vaporization. You might tell people about any disabilities (chemical sensitivities, allergies, and asthma, for example) that might cause their spraying to deny you access to your own property and the use of public facilities. If you have a farm that is certified organic where the certification is in danger, some people respond to lost money. Similarly, bees are vulnerable to insecticides.
For more tips that could save your life in a pesticide exposure emergency visit BeyondPesticides.org
* * *
Blogpost by Olga Krywyj
No comments:
Post a Comment