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Pesticides poison 6,000 Canadians a year,
report says
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Read what the media says.
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June 21, 2007
Globe and Mail
Pesticides poison 6,000 Canadians a year, report says
by JOANNA SMITH
Pesticides poison more than 6,000 Canadians every year and almost half
of them are children younger than 6, the David Suzuki Foundation says
after reviewing poison control records across the country.
In a report to be released Thursday, the environmental non-profit
organization calls on the federal government to create a national
database to accurately record the number of poisonings.
The report focuses on cases of acute pesticide poisonings, in which a
person develops symptoms ranging from watery eyes and skin rashes to
seizures and respiratory failure immediately after exposure.
Compiling data from provincial and regional authorities, the report
estimates an average of 6,090 people suffer from acute pesticide
poisonings every year and that children under 6 account for an
estimated 2,832 of those cases, or 46.5 per cent.
Unable to obtain data from Manitoba or the territories, the report
based estimates for these regions on the results for the rest of
Canada.
Information about the severity of symptoms or method of exposure was
also unavailable.
"The first thing that surprised me was how hard it was to get this
information," the report's author, David Boyd, a professor and
environmental lawyer, said Wednesday.
The report asks the federal government to revive Prod Tox, an online
network that combined data from provincial and territorial poison
control centres to track poisonings and analyze trends.
It was shelved in 2002 while still a pilot project started by a
division of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Public health agency spokesman Alain Desroches said Thursday's report
might spark discussion to resurrect the project.
The new and improved Pest Control Products Act, which came into force
this April, requires pesticide manufacturers to report all poisoning
incidents to Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency.
That information will be published on the agency's website as of next
week, spokeswoman Edith Lachapelle said.
A voluntary reporting system for the general public is also being
developed.
"I think the act is really good on paper but the jury's out on whether
it's going to be adequately implemented right now," Prof. Boyd said.
The report also asks the government to consider requiring pesticide
products to come in childproof containers.
"I think anything we can do with respect to minimizing risks,
certainly the agency is in favour of," said Lindsay Hanson, a
toxicologist with the pest management agency.
The report recommends banning the use and sale of pesticides for
cosmetic purposes, holding Quebec's new Pesticide Management Code up
as an example for other provinces.
It also praises 125 municipalities for passing anti-pesticide bylaws.
The report also recommends the federal government stop registering
pesticide products whose active ingredients have been banned in other
member nations of the Organization for Economic and Development for
health or environmental concerns; increase funding to poison control
centres; establish a national environmental health tracking system;
and recognize citizens' right to a healthy environment.
http://tinyurl.com/2uwqb5
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**note** this version
appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press (maybe in the second edition only?)
on June 21st as well, under the title: Kids Poisoned by
pesticides: report
Thu 21 Jun 2007
The Ottawa Citizen
Pesticide poisonings 'shocking';
Survey reveals 'much bigger problem
than anybody previously
suspected'
by Kelly Patterson
More than 6,000 Canadians -- almost half of them children -- suffer
acute pesticide poisoning every year, according to the first
comprehensive national survey of the issue.
"The numbers are shocking," says Gideon Forman, executive director of
the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. "It is
very worrisome that almost half of the victims were under six years
old."
"This is a much bigger problem than anybody previously suspected,"
says David Boyd, author of the report, which was based on data from
poison control centres across the country.
Mr. Boyd's report tracked only acute pesticide poisonings -- those
resulting in immediate effects, such as blistering of the skin,
respiratory distress, heart palpitations and vomiting.
Suspected chronic effects of pesticides, such as a higher risk of
cancer, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's, birth defects and
organ damage, were not taken into account in the report, which was
released today by the David Suzuki Foundation.
More than 2,800 children under the age of six suffer acute pesticide
poisoning in Canada every year, comprising 46.5 per cent of all
recorded cases, the report found. Quebec had the highest number of
reported pesticide poisonings, with 2,096, followed by Ontario with
1,629, and Alberta with 1,021.
Provinces with large populations of farmers had the highest per-capita
incidence: 33 per 100,000 for Saskatchewan and 30 per 100,000 for
Alberta. Ontario had a reported 13 cases per 100,000.
Mr. Boyd says the report's findings fall below the actual incidence of
poisonings, noting that there are no national standards for collecting
the data.
The Maritime provinces, for example, don't report how many pesticide
poisonings involve children, and Manitoba provided only partial data.
"It was obvious from conversations with doctors and staff at a number
of poison control centres that there is an urgent need for more
resources ... standardized reporting and recording, and a national
approach," the report says.
By contrast, the U.S. has a state-of-the-art tracking system for all
poisons that gathers real-time data from more than 60 poison-control
centres, breaking the data down into the source of the poison, the
severity of its effects, age of the patient and other factors of
interest to health officials.
The federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) says
manufacturers and some poisoning victims have, in the past, come
forward every year to report acute exposures; these typically amount
to only five to 20 cases a year.
But the agency, which sets the safety rules for pesticides, recently
expanded this program, making incident reports mandatory for
manufacturers, says agency spokesman Jean-Pierre Lachaine.
It has received 20 to 30 reports since that rule came into effect in
April, said Mr. Lachaine. So far, all have been minor incidents, he
said.
And the PMRA is setting up a website for the public and health-care
professionals to report poisoning incidents electronically. These
reports, along with agency analyses of the data, will be posted on the
web once the program begins near the end of the year, he adds.
"That's a step forward," says Dr. Robin Walker, former chief of
neonatology at CHEO. "Canada has been lagging well behind the U.S. in
this regard."
However, he adds that the reporting of pesticide poisonings by health
workers should be mandatory so that cases don't fall between the
cracks.
Dr. Walker, a leader in last year's unsuccessful push for a bylaw to
restrict cosmetic pesticides in Ottawa, says such issues are urgent in
Canada, arguing that regulations here are "not rigorous," especially
when it comes to assessing the potential effects of chronic, low-level
exposure to pesticides.
Mr. Boyd agrees, noting that about 1,000 pesticide products available
in Canada are banned in other nations.
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Thu 21 Jun 2007
The Calgary Herald
Pesticide poisoning called 'huge
concern'
by Jamie Komarnicki
More than 1,000 Albertans suffer acute pesticide poisoning every year,
according to the first comprehensive national survey of the issue.
With 1,021 reported cases -- nearly half involving children under the
age of six -- Alberta has the second highest rate of poisoning per
capita after Saskatchewan, says a David Suzuki Foundation report
released Wednesday.
"I think it's a huge concern. A lot of people, they don't use
pesticides properly. More, they don't think of them as poison. They're
just sitting in places where children might touch them or drink them,"
said Laureen Rama of the Coalition for a Healthy Calgary, which is
calling for a city-wide pesticide ban. "You can't escape them. We'd
like them phased out in Calgary."
City council voted down a ban in 1999. Since then herbicide use has
been greatly reduced, said a city spokesman.
Less toxic substances are used in areas such as mosquito and ground
squirrel control, and to ward off invasive plant species destroying
the ecology of natural areas, said Simon Wilkins, co-ordinator of the
integrated pest management program.
"We're not doing any cosmetic spraying in the city. It's not
beautification reasons, we're doing it to protect the landscape and to
protect the ecology, and to protect public safety."
More than 6,000 Canadians suffer acute pesticide poisoning every year,
the report found.
Quebec had the highest number of reported pesticide poisonings
overall, with 2,096, followed by Ontario with 1,629, and Alberta with
1,021. Provinces with large populations of farmers had the highest per
capita incidence: 33 per 100,000 for Saskatchewan and 30 per 100,000
for Alberta. Ontario had a reported 13 cases per 100,000. No
fatalities were reported.
"This is a much bigger problem than anybody previously suspected,"
says David Boyd, author of the report, which was based on data from
poison control centres across the country.
Boyd's report tracked only acute pesticide poisonings -- those
resulting in immediate effects, such as blistering of the skin,
respiratory distress, heart palpitations and vomiting.
Suspected chronic effects of pesticides, such as a higher risk of
cancer, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's, birth defects and
organ damage, were not taken into account.
Alberta information was provided by the Calgary Health Region's Poison
and Drug Information Service.
There are no national standards for collecting the data.
"It was obvious from conversations with doctors and staff at a number
of poison control centres that there is an urgent need for more
resources . . . standardized reporting and recording, and a national
approach," the report says.
By contrast, the U.S. has a state-of-the-art tracking system for all
poisons that gathers real-time data from more than 60 poison-control
centres, breaking it down into the source of the poison, the severity
of its effects, age of the patient and other factors of interest.
While all levels of government have a part in the production, import,
sale and use of pesticides in Canada, municipal governments play an
increasingly active part, according to the report.
Wilkins had not seen the Foundation's study and declined direct
comment. He said it's important to take into account all factors,
including where the poison is ingested -- outdoors or indoors.
jkomarnicki@theherald.canwest.com
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