Last Friday's Waterloo Region Record carried an article by Jane McArthur and Cassie Barker titled "We need to fix pesticide management". They advise that Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has not been doing its' job well. Increased miscarriages, premature births, and elevated breast cancer risk among farm women are happening in Ontario. The herbicide Glyphosate is one specific chemical blamed. Glyphosate is also ubiquitous now in our groundwater to the point that it has the highest laboratory Method Detection Limit (25 ppb.) of all listed toxins in the Region of Waterloo's Annual (Water) Reports. This is most likely in order to produce Non-Detections in samples rather than detections, whether or not above criteria. In Quebec 98.7 per cent of children tested were found to have pesticides in their bodies. Long banned DDT is still found in the breast milk of Inuit people.
The European Union has a goal of reducing pesticide use in half by 2030. Canada does not. Pesticides have reduced soil biodiversity and its' ability to store carbon. Risk Assessments are criticized for their potential to promote the use of substances that may result in human and environmental damage. In other words often times the risks outweigh the benefits other than to the pesticide manufacturers. As biologist Mary Brown has stated "Health risks are incompatible with our need for safe food, healthy communities and a livable planet."
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