Pesticides to list more ingredients - New law will put allergens, toxic chemicals on the label, but keep the formulas secret
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Subject: Pesticides to list more ingredients................
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 08:17:37 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulationcc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read an article from the Globe and Mail entitled: Pesticides to list more ingredients - New law will put allergens, toxic chemicals on the label, but keep the formulas secret by SHAWN McCARTHY - With a report by Martin Mittelstaedt - dated Wednesday, June 13, 2001.
OTTAWA -- The Liberal government will bring in legislation to require chemical companies to list all toxic or allergy-related ingredients in the pest and weed killers they sell in Canada, Health Minister Allan Rock says.
Pesticide labels now list active ingredients, those that act to kill the pest or weed.
A government list of roughly 5,000 non-active ingredients in pesticides includes compounds ranging from peanut butter to cancer-causing agents.
Most of those ingredients do not have to be disclosed.
Mr. Rock said he will introduce legislation to make manufacturers either remove the toxic, non-active ingredients, or list them on the label.
The legislation, expected next fall, "will be intended to strengthen the regulatory capacity of government to make sure Canadians know what products are being used to control pests," the Minister of Health said in the House of Commons yesterday.
Catherine Lappe, spokeswoman for Mr. Rock, said yesterday the legislation will require companies to list all toxic ingredients, plus those that may cause allergies or other health problems.
Advocates have urged the government to require that all ingredients be listed.
Ms. Lappe said, however, companies do not wish to give away the formulas for their products.
On the weekend, The Globe and Mail reported on an 86-page list of bizarre compounds in pesticide formulations.
Some contain such seemingly benign ingredients as bread crumbs, bran, apple jelly or gum, as well as perfumes and dyes.
Others are laced with nasty compounds such as asbestos fibres, formaldehyde, lead, cadmium and methyl chloride, that can cause cancer and birth defects, or may be harmful to health.
These items, known as formulants, are used to make pesticides stick to plants, to allow the active ingredient to penetrate target insects, to resist rain or to attract vermin to poisons.
Peanut butter or cookies, for instance, can lure rodents to eat poisons.
Yesterday's announcement was welcomed by environmentalists.
"The disclosure of this information is the right step. I think citizens will be shocked and appalled to see this list," Shelley Petrie, a spokeswoman for the Toronto Environmental Alliance, said.
Ms. Petrie said knowing what is in pesticides will convince many consumers to stop using them all together.
The group wants severe restrictions on pesticide use, including bans on lawn use in urban areas.
"We already know pesticides are toxic.
"This is just more ammunition that citizens and governments need to put restrictions on pesticide use," she said.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com
Well Mr. Helliker, I have been writing for years that your "registered" POISONS can not be considered to be "registered" until you consider (and then adequately test) the total toxicity of the entire POISON formulation. I am glad others are proceeding with this very important project. I am sure that once the public realizes the true dangers of your "registered" POISONS, they will refuse to use them, especially when they find out there are many safe and far more effective unregistered alternatives that actually control pest problems.
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
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