This is a post of information compiled by Sheryl McCumsey of Pesticide Free Edmonton who has done some incredible research on pesticides, their effects on our health, and their use in our city. We really have some horrible policies dictated by industry and very out of date bylaws. Why has our city refused the protection that 80% of other Canadians now benefit from?……. These municipalities have cosmetic pesticide by-laws and ALL have moved away from using Dursban because this is known to harm children’s brains. Please take this time to learn what our city is doing……… City councillors Amarjeet Sohi, Ed Gibbons, Dave Loken, Bryan Anderson and even our Mayor have not offered their opinion in regards to making any changes to protect the health of our children, pets, ourselves or the environment with pesticide use. Councillors Michael Oshry, Tony Caterina, Mike Nickel and Bev Esslinger are opposed! Why is that? Dandelions do not pose any risk to human health and will never be completely eradicated...and our children can be harmed by our obsession with them. When we see all the dandelion greens for sale at the store do you not wonder why we feel the need to destroy them? City residents are generally unaware of the fact that we are the only remaining municipality in Canada to use Dursban for destroying the larvae of mosquitoes according to Parks Department employees and Health Canada. Most people do not like mosquitoes but there are safer alternatives to Dursban and it is worth questioning whether it is truly effective as it kills predators for mosquitoes (dragonflies etc.)…remember last summer? There are many studies that show a small amount of this insecticide is very harmful to children’s brains. Winnipeg decided that this neurotoxin is too dangerous to use and sold their reserves of this to Edmonton last March….read further to understand how serious this is and what we can do about it. It is the industries that wish to register their pesticides for use that provide the studies to Health Canada to review. Both US and Canadian agencies that register this product wished to see this insecticide removed back in 2000 as many peer-reviewed studies showed how harmful this is to the human nervous system and brain. This insecticide is found in Artic ice dating back to 1972…it moves great distances and sticks around! It also has the potential to accumulate in the body as studies indicate….you may not know how you developed Parkinson’s or multiple Sclerosis….or even leukemia. A recent study shows that women exposed to this insecticide during pregnancy have a 3-fold increased chance of having a child with autism/ADHD, delayed cognitive development and other related issues. This is being sprayed in and around our city! Dow Chemical produced this product and was successfully sued for $2 million dollars by New York State for saying this is a safe product and fined $732,000 for not sending reports on Dursban poisoning incidents. Health Canada indicates on their publication that they register this “at the request of certain municipalities in Alberta….” For more information about this you can view this video.https://youtube/watch?v=XpcIsR8sYSI Symptoms of pesticide poisoning include headaches, agitation, inability to concentrate, weakness, tiredness, nausea, diarrhea and blurred vision just to name a few. Pesticides are able to make their way into our bodies through ingestion (ie.food/accidental poisonings), inhalation and through the skin. Skin absorption is very important and is a route of exposure many people do not think about. According to a BC government agricultural website the absorption through the head area is faster than if you ingest it! Pesticides can drift for kilometres. There are concerns about how products are tested…only the “active” ingredient is tested when often formulations (which have proprietary ingredients) can be much more toxic and are not tested. It is difficult to remove a harmful product after registration. Because a product is registered for use it does not mean it is safe. cbc.ca/…/ontario-workers-exposed-to-unsafe-level… Often landscaping companies will tell clients that it is safe to be on their lawn 2 days after applying herbicide when it actually states on the Material Safety Data Sheets, provided by the manufacturer, that the half-life (meaning ½ of the herbicide still remains) is 6.2 days for 2,4-D. 2,4-D is usually only one of the ingredients in lawn treatments and the combined action of the other herbicides is not known. Many peer-reviewed studies link these products to many serious illnesses including cancer. 80% of the rest of Canada has implemented by-laws to protect the public for these reasons. Edmonton does not have any such by-laws YET in a 2008 poll 87% of Albertans want this protection. The city is going to discuss Jan. 27 whether we will discontinue spraying for dandelions which do not pose any threat to human health. This would reduce our exposure to pesticides. Please show your support to this issue by calling/e-mailing your councillor and our mayor. Tell them you would like them to go further and discontinue spraying Dursban and create by-laws that will protect you from a neighbor’s overuse of pesticides. Please share this information as this is a crucial time in our city’s history…..we NEED YOUR input! edmonton.ca/city_gov…/mayor-city-councillors.aspx Those who support these initiatives include: • The Canadian Paediatric Society • College & Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta • The Lung Association of Alberta • The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (Prairie Region) • Learning Disabilities Association of Alberta • The Canadian Cancer Society • Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment • Ontario Family Physicians • The David Suzuki Foundation • The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Pesticide Free Edmonton is a volunteer-run grassroots organization that lobbies for the protection of human health and the environment through the reduction of pesticides. Please see us on Facebook: https://facebook/PesticideFreeEdmonton E-mail: [email protected]
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 17:30:22 +0000
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