Page 28 - June 2004 NEWSWEST
The doctors speak on pesticides
By Bay Ward Councillor Alex Cullen
Last month the Ontario College of Family Physicians
(representing over 6,700 family physicians in
Ontario) released a report that will cause city
council to re-open the debate about regulating the
cosmetic use of pesticides. Their report (which can
be found at www.ocfp.on.ca) reviewed some 12,000
scientific studies relating to pesticides and human
health, dating back to 1992. Their conclusions were
unequivocal: "The Ontario College of Family
Physicians is strongly recommending that people
reduce their exposure to pesticides wherever possible
... the review shows consistent links to serious
illnesses such as cancer, reproductive problems and
neurological diseases, among others. The study also
shows that children are particularly vulnerable to
pesticides."
As you may recall, in 2001 the Supreme Court of
Canada upheld the right of municipalities to pass
bylaws regulating the use of pesticides in the Hudson
case. These bylaws were being introduced because of
accumulating evidence of adverse health effects of
pesticides on humans. This led Ottawa City Council to
develop a pesticide reduction strategy in 2002,
setting targets for pesticide-use reduction (70 per
cent in residential areas, 100 per cent for schools,
child-care centres, and seniors' residences). Council
also required that, if these pesticide reduction
targets were not met by 2005, city council would then
consider enacting a pesticide-use bylaw for 2006,
similar to bylaws passed in other municipalities
(i.e. Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and
others). During the debate on this issue a motion to
introduce a bylaw for 2004 lost by a 14-6 vote, as
premature. Council also approved funding for a public
education campaign on safer alternatives to pesticide
use, as part of the reduction strategy.
Link between chemicals and cancer
However, the findings by the Ontario College of
Family Physicians should change, I believe, this
timeline, particularly as these studies reveal links
between pesticides and a number of diseases,
including brain cancer, prostate cancer, kidney
cancer, pancreatic cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,
leukemia, and many others. As these chemicals are
primarily being used for cosmetic reasons in the
urban area, and as there are commercially-available
safer alternatives (the City of Ottawa has a listing
of pesticide-free lawn care companies available
— call 580-2400 for more information), then it
makes sense to move up the schedule for bylaw
protection, rather than waiting for a bylaw to take
effect in 2006.
Bylaws which have been successfully implemented in
other municipal jurisdictions (over 60 in Canada, and
throughout the province of Quebec) share many of the
following features: a phase-in period with warnings
(no fines until later) accompanied by public
education on safer lawn care alternatives; exemptions
for public health problems and for persistent
infestations after other methods have failed;
restricted in application to urban areas only (no
application to agricultural uses).
The issue now before city council is not "if
there should be a pesticide-use bylaw, but
"when". The report from the Ontario College
of Family Physicians would indicate that
"when" should be sooner, not later.
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