Any hope for a pesticide ban in N.B.?

Pesticide foes hope for ban soon - December 14, 2007 - Canadaeast News Service

FREDERICTON - A coalition of organizations lobbying for a province-wide ban on the sale and use of pesticides says it feels the provincial government may make a move on the pesticide issue as early as the spring. However, the provincial Environment Department says that's not the case.

Representatives from environmental, health and labour organizations may have different focuses and issues, but they've joined forces when it comes to pesticides. "We have different mandates, different concerns," said Rosemary Boyle, senior manager of public issues with the New Brunswick division of the Canadian Cancer Society.

But the groups -- which also include the New Brunswick Conservation Counsel and the Lung Association of New Brunswick -- agree that there's no need for cosmetic pesticide use. Boyle said cosmetic pesticides are those used to maintain residential lawns and gardens, as well as golf courses, ball fields and public parks. The coalition isn't dealing with pesticides used in farming, for example. Such cosmetic pesticides, used only for esthetic purposes, have been linked in studies to various forms of cancer, Boyle said.

Liz Smith, environmental program co-ordinator with the lung association, said studies have also linked such pesticides with neurological conditions, such as Parkinson's.

People may not be thinking of law care with so much snow on the ground now but the coalition is pushing the message now in part because the legislature is sitting, said Sharon Flatt, vice-president of the conservation council. The time is right for such a push, she said, because the public is much more aware of the links between the environment and health concerns. Flatt said the cabinet ministers with whom they've met seem to recognize that extensive pesticide use now will translate into major health-care costs later on. "We'd like to see something come up at this (legislative) sitting," she said.

Smith said the coalition has been given an indication the province plans to address the issue soon. "The announcement should be in the spring," she said. However, a spokesman with the Environment Department said that's not true. There is no imminent announcement regarding any kind of province-wide ban on pesticides, said communications officer Mike Wesson.

Environment Minister Roland Hache said there are four departments -- environment, health, agriculture and local government -- looking at the issue of cosmetic pesticides. "What we are planning to do is have the public input into the cosmetic pesticides used in the province of New Brunswick," he said. "It is very difficult for me to answer that at this time," Hache said about whether the Liberals would announce a new policy in the spring. "We will take into consideration what the public is saying."

Boyle said the scientific testing hasn't definitely demonstrated that the pesticides cause those illnesses but then again, one can't exactly expose children to dangerous chemicals as part of an experiment to prove such causation.

"But we have lots of studies that are pointing to the damage," said Flatt. She said coalition members have met with provincial cabinet ministers, who seemed open to their concerns and even shared them.

Boyle said government must act quickly to prevent future damage even if the science hasn't caught up with the lobbying efforts yet. "We can't wait for definitive evidence," she said. "Ultimately, those products are designed to kill."

It does damage to human health in subtle, long-term ways," Smith said.
Read more about this issue at: http://www.nben.ca/aboutus/caucus/archived_caucuses/pesticides/index.htm