Pesticide ban to take root
Published Friday June 19th, 2009
Legislation | Golf courses, farming and forestry sectors to be exempted from rules
The sale and use of more than 200 retail lawn-care pesticides, including 2,4-D, will be banned on residential lawns this fall, said Environment Minister Roland Hache on Thursday.
But the ban won't cover golf courses, parks, sports fields, schoolyards and hospital grounds.
Hache said pesticides, including in some cases 2,4-D, will be allowed in those places but can only be applied by persons trained in integrated pest management.
"New Brunswick is the first province in Atlantic Canada and the third in Canada to adopt a comprehensive product ban on lawn care pesticides," he said.
"The ban targets lawn care pesticide products on the retail market which are most susceptible to being overused and misused.''
In addition, beginning in February, integrated pest management accreditation will be mandatory for all lawn-care services involving commercial grade pesticides, he said.
"The new integrated pest management provisions will include requirements for businesses and lawn-care professionals to significantly reduce their reliance on blanket treatment and will instead promote spot treatment of problem areas," said Hache.
The government is also going to review the 1974 Pesticides Control Act with a goal of further reducing the unnecessary use of pesticides in the province within two years, said the environment minister.
Delaying the change until next year's lawn and gardening season will give lawn-care companies time to adjust, he said.
In 2008, the government carried out a 90-day public consultation on the use of pesticides and more than 1,400 New Brunswickers made presentations.
Golf courses are exempted and will be allowed to use 2,4-D because they require specialty turf maintenance, he said.
The pesticide 2,4-D is widely used to kill dandelions.
The new rules will also not apply to agricultural or forestry operations.
The changes can be carried out through regulations under existing legislation, he said.
"In the coming weeks, information will be made available to the public and stakeholders about the ban and how lawns can be managed without relying on routine pesticide spraying," said Hache.
Environment critic Trevor Holder said the ban was a step in the right direction.
"But ... if someone can go into another jurisdiction and buy it and bring it in and use it here, how effective is that?" he asked. "We have a lot of questions."
Gideon Forman, executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, cautiously commended the ban.
"Doctors are very pleased New Brunswick is banning the pesticide 2,4-D, a chemical linked to cancer and neurological illness," he said Thursday.
But New Brunswickers and especially children need the strongest possible protection from toxic products with a more comprehensive ban as was done in Ontario, said Forman.
David Coon, executive director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, said Thursday the Liberal government hasn't brought in a comprehensive ban.
"Basically, what happened is the New Brunswick government blinked," he said. "I don't know why we have to accept second best, but that is the decision this government has taken."
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It's a start but why spray at schools?
"Synthnetic pesticides are registered in Canada without undergoing extensive testing - Scientists merely evaluate rat-testing studies. Rats have detoxification genes"
Children do not have detoxification genes !
In Child Health and the Environment, Donald Wigle MD, PhD wrote
"children recieve larger doses of exposure relative to their body size, or because their bodies may be more vulnerable to exposures during the time when they are growing and developing."
Lets do more to protect our kids,DO NOT spray at schools.
Nancy
Give it a break kids !!! My Dr.'s say I have a long life ahead of me.
Would it be because tobacco sales bring in billions of dollars in taxes every year? Is money really more important to government than human lives? I will answer this for you.............YES.