Pesticides too harmful to use in any form, doctors warn

[Guest guest]

(Doctors are coming down on the right side of this issue. Also, have a look

at paragraph 8. It's wonderfully written to make the industry rep look

completely out of touch with reality. The same goes for the end of the

article. -- David)

 

 

Pesticides too harmful to use in any form, doctors warn

 

By ALANNA MITCHELL

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

 

UPDATED AT 1:25 AM EDT Saturday, Apr. 24, 2004

 

 

The link between common household pesticides and fetal defects,

neurological damage and the most deadly cancers is strong enough that

family doctors in Ontario are urging citizens to avoid the chemicals in any

form.

 

The frightening message came yesterday when the Ontario College of Family

Physicians released the most comprehensive study ever done in Canada on the

chronic effects of pesticide exposure at home, in the garden and at work.

 

" The review found consistent evidence of the health risks to patients with

exposure to pesticides, " the study said, naming brain cancer, prostate

cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer and leukemia among many other

acute illnesses.

 

As well, the college found consistent links between parents' exposure to

certain agricultural pesticides at their jobs and effects on a growing

fetus ranging from damage to death. The risks, they concluded, can come

even from residue on food, ant spray and the tick collar on the family cat.

 

The researchers also found that children are far more vulnerable to the

effects of pesticides than adults because their bodies are growing, they

have a greater skin surface in proportion to their size than adults, they

ingest more food for their size than adults and they often have

less-developed systems to excrete chemicals.

 

Not only that, but after examining 12,000 studies conducted from 1990 to

2003 around the world, and winnowing that down to the most sound 250, the

researchers said there is no evidence that some pesticides are less

dangerous than others, just that they have different effects on health that

take different periods to show up.

 

They said they are preparing brochures for patients and education material

for family doctors to fill them in on the findings.

 

However, Lorne Hepworth, president of CropLife Canada, a trade association

representing the large multinational companies that manufacture pesticides,

said he questioned whether the college, a voluntary, not-for-profit

association, really had the public's interest at heart in releasing the data:

 

" Pesticides used properly constitute no unacceptable risk to people's

health or to the environment. "

 

He added that pesticides are highly regulated in Canada by federal health

staff and must go through a raft of tests, including some on animals to see

if the products cause cancer, before they are approved for use.

 

Not only that, but the federal laws governing pesticides were tightened two

years ago to make them protect children better and match more closely the

tougher standards in the United States and in other countries, he said.

 

He pointed out that other studies have shown that pesticide use also

provides a safe and abundant source of fruits and vegetables in Canada, and

that consuming these can cut cancer risks.

 

Chris Krepski, a spokesman for the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, an

arm of Health Canada, added that a pesticide cannot be registered for use

in Canada if it has the potential to cause birth defects.

 

" As long as they are used according to the label directions, they can be

used safely, " he said.

 

The massive scientific literature review comes as many cities across Canada

are trying to ban the use of pesticides to make gardens and lawns pest-free

and as efforts increase to get rid of mosquito larvae before West Nile season.

 

Toronto's law came into effect this month complete with posters showing a

dandelion and the caption: " Relax. It's just a weed. "

 

Quebec has already banned the most common lawn and garden pesticides across

the province starting next year.

 

More than 66 communities have also moved to adopt bylaws that would limit

pesticides, said Katrina Miller of the Toronto Environmental Alliance, a

group seeking a reduction in the use of pesticides.

 

The Canadian Cancer Society, the Learning Disabilities Association of

Canada, the Registered Nurses Association of Canada and the Ontario Public

Health Association have called for the bans as well.

 

Cathy Vakil, of the Family Medicine Centre at Queen's University in

Kingston and one of the authors of the report, noted that alternatives to

pesticides are available in most cases and should be considered because the

profoundly negative effects of some chemicals can be passed down through

generations.

 

" People need to think long and hard if they want to take that risk for

themselves, their children and their grandchildren for the sake of a

golf-green lawn, " she said.

 

She also noted that the pesticides used in Toronto's 200,000 storm sewers

to kill mosquito larvae emit a product as they break down that is a

retinoid, a family of chemicals known to cause limb deformities in fetuses.

 

That chemical then washes into Lake Ontario and in turn into the drinking

water of the Greater Toronto Area.

 

However, Lorraine Van Haastrecht, spokeswoman for a lobby group

representing companies that treat 100,000 lawns in Toronto, said Canada

needs " healthy green spaces. "

 

" What we see is parks reduced to massive weed infestations, " she said.

 

And Gavin Dawson, technical manager of Greenspace Services, the largest

company in Canada to treat lawns, said that while his company offers

pesticide-free service, only about 10 per cent of customers want that. The

rest want pesticides.

[Guest guest]

I think the lawn person meant herbicides but all are bad. For

mosquito repellant neem oil may be the answer. I hear it is as

effective as deet but nontoxic. Neem is grown in India.

 

 

http://www.bytheplanet.com/Neem/TheNeemTree/neemtree.htm

The people of India have long revered the neem tree (Azadirachta

indica). For centuries, millions have cleaned their teeth with neem

twigs, smeared skin disorders with neem-leaf juice, taken neem tea as

a tonic, and placed neem leaves in their beds, books, grain bins,

cupboards, and closets to keep away troublesome bugs. The tree has

relieved so many different pains, fevers, infections, and other

complaints that it has been called " the village pharmacy. "

 

As for a safe herbicide I suppose geese.

 

 

 

-- In , David Elfstrom

<listbox@e...> wrote:

> (Doctors are coming down on the right side of this issue. Also,

have a look

> at paragraph 8. It's wonderfully written to make the industry rep

look

> completely out of touch with reality. The same goes for the end of

the

> article. -- David)

>

>

> Pesticides too harmful to use in any form, doctors warn

>

> By ALANNA MITCHELL

> From Saturday's Globe and Mail

>

> UPDATED AT 1:25 AM EDT Saturday, Apr. 24, 2004

>

>

> The link between common household pesticides and fetal defects,

> neurological damage and the most deadly cancers is strong enough

that

> family doctors in Ontario are urging citizens to avoid the

chemicals in any

> form.

>

> The frightening message came yesterday when the Ontario College of

Family

> Physicians released the most comprehensive study ever done in

Canada on the

> chronic effects of pesticide exposure at home, in the garden and at

work.

>

> " The review found consistent evidence of the health risks to

patients with

> exposure to pesticides, " the study said, naming brain cancer,

prostate

> cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer and leukemia among many

other

> acute illnesses.

>

> As well, the college found consistent links between parents'

exposure to

> certain agricultural pesticides at their jobs and effects on a

growing

> fetus ranging from damage to death. The risks, they concluded, can

come

> even from residue on food, ant spray and the tick collar on the

family cat.

>