I feel safer today thanks to the work of the Province of British Columbia's parliamentary committee and their inquiry into the feasibility of a province-wide ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides.
We can thank the following elected MLAs for all their hard work on this vital health issue: Margaret MacDiarmid, Rob Fleming, Bill Bennett, Murray Coell, Scott Fraser, Douglas Horne, Barry Penner, Michael Sather, John Slater, Ben Stewart and John Yap.
We can all rest easy knowing the few weeks of theoretical instruction and three-hour exam that pesticide applicators write to be certified, will prevent our children from coming in contact with toxic, poisonous, designed-to-kill, persistent, leachable and mobile-in-the environment pesticides.
And that people who manufacture, advertise, sell and apply such poisonous products will distribute and spray them into our soil, water and air, while following every product's labeled hazard warnings of pesticide poisoning, pesticide spill, environmental contamination or non-target pesticide poisoning, with our children's best interest's in mind.
I am also happy that the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and its regulators, research scientists, and their pesticide registration laws, will safely "mitigate and manage" pesticide risks to "acceptable toxicity thresholds" for all 5,000 registered pesticides in Canada.
British Columbians can now spray pesticides at will into the environment we all play, swim, live and breathe in with no worry of the unknown long-term risks of pesticide accumulation and biomagnification in our food supply.
In support of the ban: the highly trained people at the David Suzuki Foundation; Canadian Cancer Society; Greenpeace; Western Canada Wilderness Committee; Sierra Club and the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine Department of Pediatrics; the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the U.S. National Toxicology Program that found some pesticides can cause cancer; as well as the Ontario College of Family Physicians that found, "Consistent links to serious illnesses, such as cancer, reproductive problems and neurological diseases related to pesticide exposure."
The B.C. Council of the Canadian Federation of University Women stated, "The PMRA should, but does not (currently) require tests that measure bioaccumulation, biomagnification, and chemical and biological interactions of pesticides."
Also in favour of the ban was the Canadian Pediatric Society, the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment and Physicians for Global Survival, who expressed their concerns to the committee by saying: "There is a large body of medical evidence demonstrating pesticide-associated health risks affect everyone from the fetus to seniors, and a growing body of scientific evidence linking cancer to the use of pesticides, including childhood cancers. Children are more vulnerable to exposure to pesticide-treated lawns and playgrounds due to their developing immune systems."
The committee's decision not to ban makes me think that all of those highly educated environmental and public health advocacy groups were not informed enough and probably misguided in supporting a ban on poisonous pesticides that may bioaccumulate and biomagnify in the environment and harm our children.
It is important to thank those who argued against a pesticide ban including the manager of pesticide regulations for SC Johnson and Son Ltd. who told the committee, "Public concerns regarding the safety of these products often result from an inadequate understanding of the rigorous registration process that is currently in place." (Written submission 8424.)
And Crop Life Canada (members include BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto, Syngenta), who said pesticides are, "Safe, effective tools for public and private spaces."
The Invasive Plant Council of British Columbia argued that pesticides are needed to control the spread of invasive plant species. Even though such spray programs have slowed but not stopped one single invasive species from spreading, including those tasty Himalayan blackberries that have moved from Vancouver to live in the west Kootenays.
Let's not forget the B.C. Fruit Growers' Association that stated, "It is vital that any legislation does not impair the ability of citizens, businesses or commodity groups from protecting their ornamental and commercial plantings from newly introduced invasive species."
Also thank the Integrated Environmental Plant Management Association of Western Canada, which represents professionally certified pesticide applicators, and the National Allied Golf Association B.C. chapter, who all told the committee that current pesticide laws are effective enough to safeguard human health.
So now we know who to thank, and once the committee's public education recommendations are implemented we will all be educated in how to manage "acceptable thresholds of toxicity" so we can cuddle up with our children and a nice cup of tea, safe in the knowledge that the pesticide residue in our parks, lawns and gardens that tracked onto our pet's and children's feet will only stick to them a little while.
But not worry, that life-killing pesticide residue has been legally registered to "mitigate and manage acceptable thresholds of toxicity."
Todd Major is a journeyman horticulturist, garden designer, consultant and organic advocate. For advice contact him at [email protected].
