Loading ...As of Spring 2009, Ontarians scanning store shelves for pesticides will find them bare, thanks to recently passed Bill-64 Cosmetic Pesticides Ban Act. The ban has been greeted with praise on the one hand, as well as criticism.
For those municipalities with no local pesticide ban in place, the new legislation will protect Ontario families, children, pets and wildlife from exposure to a set of chemical pesticides, many of which are cause a higher risk and incidence of various cancers. Says Lisa Gue, environmental health policy analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation, “We all know that pulling these products from store shelves is the best way to ensure that they won’t be used.”
Yet, for cities with strict regulatory bans on pesticides already in place, the new Act could actually weaken prior efforts to protect their citizens from risks posed by pesticides. Essentially, the Act prevents enforcement of local restrictions on pesticides when they exceed the Act’s scope (David Suzuki Foundation).
The Act also lacks potency in that several amendments to strengthen it were defeated (Standing Committee on Social Policy Transcript). Yet, in the big picture, Ontario now has a provincial ban on cosmetic pesticides, which is more than they had before they started. And, if the chems aren’t available in stores, chances are
Ontarians won’t be buying and handling them.
Ontario College of Family Physicians Report on Pesticides
What’s your take on the new Cosmetic Pesticides Ban Act?
