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Activists Defend Quebec's Ban on 2,4-D

January 17, 2006

 

The Canadian Province of Quebec is on the verge of enacting historic

measures to protect public health from unnecessary and dangerous lawn

chemicals. The Pesticide Code of Quebec came into effect in 2003 and

has been phased in over a period of three years. The final stage of the

Code will come into effect on April 3, 2006. The Code bans the sale and

use of 20 active ingredients contained in 212 pesticide products

applied cosmetically on lawns. Agricultural uses are exempted. However,

the lawn care industry is making a last-ditch effort to delay the

implementation of the Code and exempt the chemical 2,4-D from the ban.

 

" If successful, this would mean that 2,4-D could be sprayed on the

green spaces in our communities, where the children we raise with

loving care will play, roll, romp in the grass, and many of them will

even put it in their mouths--as children often do! " stated Quebec

residents Rohini Peris and Michel Gaudet. " This is an unacceptable

risk. " Peris and Gaudet's family understands the toll that pesticides

can take, after suffering a serious incident of pesticide poisoning in

their own home. " That the industry would lobby to change a law designed

to protect public health is shameful, " Peris declared.

 

" 2,4-D is far from safe. It can affect women's ability to bear healthy

children, and epidemiological studies show strong links between use of

2,4-D products and cancer, " noted Dr. Susan Kegley, Senior Scientist at

Pesticide Action Network. California's Office of Environmental Health

Hazard Assessment classifies 2,4-D as a developmental toxicant. Recent

independent studies indicate that rats exposed to 2,4-D in utero showed

an increased incidence of skeletal abnormalities such as extra ribs and

malformed ribcages. In rabbits, 2,4-D and its diethanolamine salt

caused abortions and skeletal abnormalities.

 

2,4-D is widely used throughout North America. One popular use of 2,4-D

is as a weed killer mixed with fertilizer for lawns. Because companies

mix herbicide and fertilizer in the same product, homeowners who simply

want to fertilize their lawns often end up inadvertently applying large

doses of the herbicide as well. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control

found that one quarter of the U.S. population carries 2,4-D residues in

their bodies, and children between the ages of six and eleven have

significantly higher exposure rates compared to older children and

adults. The Pesticide Code of Quebec has already prohibited the use or

sale of fertilizer-pesticide mixtures such as " Weed and Feed " as well

as herbicide-insecticide mixtures as of April 2004.

 

The story of the Canadian pesticide movement illustrates both the power

of grassroots democracy, and the danger of corporate influence at the

international level. Quebec's Pesticide Code was born from years of

local organizing to pass bylaws against cosmetic pesticide use at the

municipal level. As many as 70 cities and towns in the Province of

Quebec and 15 more communities across Canada have already passed such

bylaws. These include major cities such as Toronto, Montreal and

Vancouver. Dozens more are debating the issue. Residents have enjoyed

great success in persuading their neighbors on city councils to protect

community health, pressing their local knowledge as an advantage over

industry lobbyists accustomed to national politics. In one hapless

incident, an industry representative failed to convince a mayor who was

a well-known dog lover by dispassionately explaining chemical toxicity

testing on beagles.

 

However, Quebec's Pesticide Code came under threat at the international

level from Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement

(NAFTA), which allows corporations to sue governments for lost profits.

Days after the Code was proposed, Donald Page of the Industry Task

Force II on 2,4-D threatened to sue the Quebec government under Chapter

11. Fortunately Provincial Minister Andre Boisclair stood up to the

industry lobby, and Quebec passed the new Pesticide Code in March 2003.

To date, no Chapter 11 complaint has been filed against the government

of Quebec, although the industry continues to lobby hard for a 2,4-D

exemption.

 

Residents of Quebec have put out a call for international solidarity,

urging concerned people everywhere to communicate to Quebec's ministers

to keep the Pesticide Code strong. You can help by sending a message to

the government of Quebec here

http://ga4.org/campaign/quebecPesticideBan.

 

Sources:

The Pesticide Management Code of Quebec

http://www.mddep.gouv.qc.ca/pesticides/permis-en/code-gestion-en/code-enbref.htm

 

Highlights of the Pesticide Management Code of Quebec

http://www.mddep.gouv.qc.ca/pesticides/permis-en/code-gestion-en/index.htm

 

Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (CAP)

www.cap-quebec.com

 

Rickman, Angela. 2004. " Canadian Activists Win Pesticide Bylaws " in

Global Pesticide Campaigner 14 (2), August 2004

http://www.panna.org/resources/gpc/gpc_200408.14.2.pdf

 

Pesticide Action Network North America. 2005. " California Finds Lawn

Chemicals Dangerous to Health " Pesticide Action Network Update Service

(PANUPS) December 21, 2005

http://www.panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20051221.dv.html

 

 

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