Pesticide Bans Are Backed By Common Sense
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Pesticide Bans Are Backed By Common Sense
Date:
Tue, 29 Oct 2002 07:22:44 -0500
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
Saturday October 26, 2002
Kitchener-Waterloo Record
Pesticide Bans Are Backed By Common Sense
Barbara Hankins, Steve Izma
What do asbestos, tobacco, lead, DDT, and the pesticides Diazinon and Dursban have in common? These are substances, once considered hallmarks of progress, that have since been banned or abandoned because of a change in knowledge, attitudes and values in our society. Although once thought harmless, they eventually proved to be life-threatening, and we had to change not only our way of thinking but also our lifestyle.
Such changes now confront the citizens of Waterloo Region as we consider a ban on non-essential pesticides. With a similar move, we would join nearly 50 Quebec municipalities that have imposed cosmetic pesticide bans. The Supreme Court ruling in favour of Hudson, Que., over Chemlawn reinforced the authority of municipal governments to protect the health of their citizens and their environment from harmful contaminants.
The province of Quebec has shown its committment to a healthier environment by imposing a province-wide ban on the most health-threatening lawn chemicals Their list of banned substances includes the main ingredients (2, 4-D and mecoprop) of Par III, a product that has been widely used in our region. We are especially distressed to see that a certain local large insurance company uses these substances on properties it has in residential areas. We have also seen the use of such pesticides on business properties adjacent to schools. According to the Material Safety Data Sheets, Par III should not be used in dry, hot periods; nonetheless, we have seen local lawncare companies spray it under those conditions in the past summer.
These products are known to leach into groundwater where their toxicity threatens not only human beings but, even more vulnerable, the wildfowl, fish and honeybees dependent on our natural areas.
Unfortunately, because good common sense and concern for the health of our community seem lacking among some prominent corporate citizens and others, an imposed ban is our only hope.
Barbara Hankins
Steve Izma
Kitchener
http://www.therecord.com/opinion/letters/opinion_letters_02102694731.html
ŠKitchener-Waterloo Record 2000
225 Fairway Road South,
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, N2G 4E5
519-894-2231
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