The Urban Use of Pesticides is a Major Issue

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Subject: The Urban Use of Pesticides is a Major Issue
Date:   Sat, 18 May 2002 09:02:20  -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 Regulation 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

Mike Christie sent out the following e-mail:

There are other countries besides Canada where the urban use of pesticides is a major issue.

For example, exposure to chemical toxins (including pesticides) in urban areas was featured prominently in a PBS documentary titled 'Kids and Chemicals' on May 10, 2002. You can read the full transcript online at: http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript117_full.html

One notable quote was as follows:
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"Fifty or 60 years ago in this country the major diseases in children were the infectious diseases. Today the major causes of illness in kids are chronic diseases.  Asthma is the leading cause of admission of children to hospital; it's the leading cause of school absenteeism. Cancer, after injuries, is the leading killer of children in the United States. Developmental disabilities are common. They affect anywhere from five to ten percent of all children. Things like attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, autism." Dr. Philip Landrigan

"We know that chemicals in the environment are responsible for some of these effects. We know, for example, that some cases of development disability in children are caused by exposures to lead, to pesticides, to mercury, to PCBs. We suspect that children who are exposed to pesticides are at greater risk of childhood cancer than other children. But mostly we don't know."  Dr. Philip Landrigan

"Of the 3000 or so high production volume chemicals in use in this country today only 43% have been even minimally tested. Only about 10 percent have been thoroughly tested to examine their potential effects on children's health and development. So little testing has left scientists and policy makers in the dark about the toxicity of thousands of chemicals. This is changing - slowly." Bill Moyers

Source : ( PBS. Now by Bill Moyers, May 10, 2002: Dr. Philip Landrigan is a pioneer in the emerging field of children's environmental health.  From New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine he works with scientists around the country to understand how kids are affected by exposure to chemicals.)

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Urban pesticide use would not be an issue if Canada followed the best practices of other countries such as Sweden and Denmark. Consistent regulation over a 15-year period has proven that government policies can reduce pesticide use, as well as the risks to health and the environment. For example, 2,4-D was removed from Sweden's list of approved active ingredients back in 1991. The list of other pesticide control products still approved in Canada but removed from use in Sweden is extensive.  You can check this out for yourself by going to the following link under appendix 9 to download the list of pesticides have been withdrawn in Sweden.

http://www.kemi.se/lagar_eng/legisindex.htm

It is also very enlightening to see what can be achieved with the right focus on the precautionary principle with the first priority placed on people versus products.

You can contact George Ekström and Peter Bergkvist of the Swedish National Chemicals Inspectorate (KEMI) directly and ask them for a copy of their report on the pesticide reduction strategies and the results achieved.

Peter Bergkvist
KEMI - Swedish National Chemicals Inspectorate
P.O.Box 1384
S-171 27 3
Solna,  SWE
Tel: +46 8 783 1209
Email: peterb@kemi.se
Website: http://www.kemi.se/default_eng.htm

George Ekström
KEMI - Swedish National Chemicals Inspectorate
P.O.Box 1384
S-171 27 3
Solna,  SWE
Tel: +46 8 735 1132
Email: george@kemi.se

For those interested in learning more about best practices in Sweden. I would suggest that you download the following documents as well:

Biocidal Products Directive
http://www.kemi.se/publikationer/Pdf/biocid_eng.pdf

Swedish Views and Facts on The Environment No. 4 (Chemicals)
http://www.environ.se/enviroreport/envirorep4/pdf/er4w.pdf

Overview of some important directives relating to community level risk reduction of chemicals
http://www.norden.org/miljoe/sk/kemi_overview.asp?lang=1#Do

According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are approximately 60 chemical pesticides approved for use in Canada that are banned in other OECD <http://www.oecd.org> countries.

Other examples of concern over urban and rural pesticide use in other countries can be found on the following links:

European Union Sustainable Use Of Pesticides
http://www.europarl.eu.int/stoa/publi/98-11-01/chap2_en.htm

UK Local Action on Pesticides (LAP)
http://www.pan-uk.org/lap/lapindex.htm

Fairfax CA USA
Trying to Protect its Citizens from Pesticide Poisoning
http://www.safe2use.com/dpr-epa/fairfax/index.htm

Well Mr. Helliker, are you still trying to STOP Fairfax from protecting its citizens?

Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten

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