The Canadian province of Ontario has just passed a pesticide ban that by next spring would prohibit the use of more than 80 ingredients and 300 pesticide products across the province. However, many greens and public-health advocates have decried the just-passed legislation, saying it could ultimately end up damaging public health. The major problem with the ban, critics say, is that it forbids towns and cities in the province from enacting stricter pesticide laws. What's more, the ban would not apply to farming, forestry, or golf courses. Public-interest groups were initially supportive of the measure, but they were misled by the province's premier who said in April that municipalities would still be able to enact stricter rules under the ban. He later admitted that wasn't the case. "We ... applauded what we thought was a step forward to protect people from these poisonous chemicals," said Wendy Fucile, of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario. "But today, we see what the province's legislation actually means is that municipalities will be stripped of their tough municipal bylaws to protect people."
source: The Canadian Press
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askantik Posted 2:34 am
20 Jun 2008
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wiscidea Posted 2:51 am
20 Jun 2008
I've tried and failed to find this information.
Thank you.
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wiscidea Posted 2:55 am
20 Jun 2008
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wiscidea Posted 3:08 am
20 Jun 2008
I went to the garden center to find a relatively safe product for controlling flea beetles on my eggplant and the guy wanted to sell me a can of rotenone POWDER! If I was a typical homeowner interested in killing everything in my garden, I probably would have bought it. However, I first asked whether I would have a problem because the wind never stops blowing around my home. His response... yeah, the slightest wind will coat everything downwind with rotenone. Yep, let's kill all the native beneficial bugs around my garden! He didn't even warn me that I shouldn't use it if there were any streams or pond nearby!
The folks selling pesticides, whether they are synthetic or natural, should be required to warn the user of potential hazards... like a pharmacist does when they hand you a bottle of pills... not just let you walk out of the store with a can of rotenone powder!
One might say... buyer beware... but what if my neighbors are dusting their landscape with the stuff? What is someone assumes it is safe because it is "organic"?
It is time to ban ALL pesticides, synthetic and natural, unless the manufacturer can prove, without doubt, that the pesticide kills ONLY known and recognized pests and NO OTHER organisms when it is used, appropriately or inappropriately.
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