SERIOUS CRITICISM OF CANADA'S PMRA

It is both a world wide and a local issue. The active ingredient in Roundup is Glyphosate and both a U.S. jury and the International Agency on Research on Cancer (IARC) say that Glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen. Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) however is not convinced. PMRA has refused to set up an independent panel to review the science on Glyphosate according to Friends Of The Earth (FOE) Canada and others. Glyphosate has long concerned me because it has the highest Method Detection Limit (MDL) of all the chemicals tested in our drinking water by the Region of Waterloo. A 25 part per billion (ppb) MDL is frankly ridiculous and unacceptable.

FOE have issued an on-line briefing for concerned citizens. In the fall of 2017 FOE and seven other scientists and groups filed a Notice of Objection with the PMRA over their decision to reregister Glyphosate for fifteen years in Canada. Those objections have all been dismissed by the PMRA.

Monsanto are the manufacturers of Glyphosate and currently are under criticism for documents known as the Monsanto Papers. These are documents allegedly showing a path of deceit and collusion in regards to the company's handling of health concerns about their products. Two U.S. lawyers who were involved with a multi million dollar lawsuit against Monsanto will be in Toronto at the end of this month to discuss both their and Canadian concerns regarding Roundup and Glyphosate.

To me a fifteen year reregistration seems ridiculous for a product that has any possible negative health effects at all much less being on the IARC's list.