HANS e-News - March 15, 2005

CONTENTS

1) HANS Editorial
2) Feature: The Greening of Canadian Communities
3) Issue Update
4) Calendar of Events

1) EDITORIAL

Hello HANS Members and Friends;

One of our new initiatives this year is to communicate with our members regularly, sharing what's happening in our world.

Well, we've created a bi-weekly e-News communique full of what's hot and what's not in health and environmental information - all interesting bits for your consideration.

In this e-News, we've focused particularly on environmental chemicals - timely given the federal government's request for comment on banning pesticide 2,4-D (see below).

This year, we're also returning to our magazine "Health Action", which will be printed every three months, by the seasons.

Now is an important time for HANS. Our mission is to facilitate individual wellness, and our vision is to create integrated health-care delivery for British Columbians and Canadians.

To this end, we're proud to announce a blended HANS On Wellness Insurance. Look for details in future bulletins, as well as on our new-and-improved website. http://www.hans.org

On top of all this, we're continuing to monitor Canadian health issues, such as CODEX global food trade recommendations and its potential impact on consumer freedom of choice. Look for a report in an upcoming e-News.

We're happy to forward this and more information to you in the future. Please let us know if your e-mail address changes or if you no longer want to receive these communications.

Lorna Hancock
HANS Co-founder and Director

2) FEATURE: THE GREENING OF CANADIAN COMMUNITIES

By Trudy Peskett

Pesticide reduction is a hot issue likely to hit a city hall near you, if it hasn't already. More than 60 Canadian communities, including large cities such as Toronto and Vancouver, have considered or are enacting bylaws to ban cosmetic use of pesticides on private property.

Homeowners buy five to 10 per cent of all pesticides in Canada. A 2001 Ipsos-Reid poll of 600 homeowners found that most respondents (77 per cent) remove pests in their lawns and/or gardens either by hand or with suitable self-purchased products. Thirteen per cent said they hire professionals for lawn and garden care.

A pesticide is as any material intended to prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate an undesired pest (insect, weed, rodent, fungus, bacterium, or other micro-organism). Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides - even some wood preservatives, disinfectants, and swimming-pool algae products - are included in this definition. “Cosmetic” means that pesticides are used purely for aesthetic purposes.

Concern over pesticides has risen steadily in recent years; more and more studies point to health problems associated with pesticide exposure. Acute symptoms include headaches, sleep disturbances, diarrhea, throat and eye irritation, and vomiting.

Longer-term, chronic exposure has been associated with reproductive problems, miscarriage, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and childhood leukemia. Children are most susceptible to chemical exposure because of their developing immune systems.

The environmental impacts of pesticides are considerable. Many linger for decades in the environment, contributing to soil and air pollution, as well as the unintended destruction of wildlife and beneficial species such as bees and butterflies. As a result of both health and environmental impacts, federal and provincial agencies now frequently recommend reduced pesticide management strategies on public lands.

But that's not enough, some experts contend. This precautionary tone was reflected by the federal Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development. The unprecedented May 2000 report recommended a moratorium on cosmetic pesticides “until science has proven that the pesticides involved do not constitute a health threat and some light has been shed on the consequences of their use in urban areas.”

Hudson, Quebec, passed the first municipal bylaw banning pesticide use in Canada in 1991, a move challenged shortly thereafter by two lawn-care companies claiming that the municipality didn't have jurisdiction over federally approved products. The case ultimately reached the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled in June 2001 that cities may indeed regulate pesticide application.

Across the country, many communities have since taken matters into their own hands, including (in Quebec) Beaconsfield, Chelsea, and Shediac. In Ontario, 20 municipalities have been working on or have passed bylaws to reduce pesticide use, including Toronto, Cobalt, Perth, and Thorold.

In December 2003, Port Moody passed British Columbia's first municipal bylaw for private lands. On Jan. 15, 2004, Vancouver considered creating a bylaw that could go into effect as early as 2006. Many communities in the Greater Vancouver area are making moves to follow suit, including Burnaby, Richmond, and North Vancouver.

Even if your community isn't considering a cosmetic pesticide ban at present, it may offer an educational program offering tips on home pesticide reduction.

For example, the City of Burnaby, BC, launched a Let it Grow, Naturally! Program in 2004 that includes workshops, brochures, and an info line (http://www.city.burnaby.bc.ca/cityhall/departments/e... or 604-294-7089).

Another great resource is the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation in Vancouver (http://www.spec.bc.ca or 604-736-7732). Their website boasts a comprehensive pesticide information centre.

Effective, nontoxic alternatives to pesticides do exist that will ensure a safer future for our gardens, our children, and our planet.

Reprinted and updated with author's permission. First appeared in alive Magazine, May 2004.

3) ISSUE UPDATES

2,4-D: Popular pest killer NOT YET banned in Canada

In a move that upset consumer and environmental groups last month, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) didn't ban 2,4-D - a popular but toxic pest killer.

2,4-D has been in use for 50 years, its dangerous effects contributing to a general disapproval against chemical overuse in gardening and landscaping.

Connie Moase of the PMRA said the agency's final decision will be made after the public is given a chance to comment. The agency also says 2,4-D is “safe” so long as instructions on the label are followed.

According to Beyond Pesticides (www.beyondpesticides.org), “Epidemiological studies have linked 2,4-D to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) among farmers and studies in Canada and Sweden have also found a greater incidence of 2,4-D exposure among people diagnosed with NHL. A number of studies also link 2,4-D exposure to childhood cancers including leukemia, NHL, and brain cancers. In dogs, exposure to lawns treated with 2,4-D has been associated with greater incidence of bladder cancer.”

For more on this issue, visit Canadian Coalition for Health and Environment. http://www.cche-info.com/index.shtml

Also send your comments BEFORE APRIL 22, 2005, to:
Publications Coordinator, PMRA
Health Canada
2720 Riverside Drive
A.L. 6605C
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0K9
E-mail: pmra_publications@hc.sc.gc.ca
Phone: 1-800-267-6315, 613-736-3799
Fax: 613-736-3758

4) CALENDAR OF EVENTS

What: CODEX, Canada and You
When: March 23, 2005, 7:30pm
Where: Vancouver, BC
SPEC Hall, 2150 Maple @ West 6th Avenue
Who: Consumer health activist Croft Woodruff
Cost: $8 at the door
Contact: 604-324-2121

What: AIMS 6th Annual Nutrition Conference
When: April 3, 2005
Where: Vancouver, BC, BC Children's Hospital
Who: AIMS, Alternative & Integrative Medical Society of UBC
Cost: $10-$40
Contact: http://www.aims.ubc.ca or 604-822-7604

TOPICS COVERED
-Evoluationary Eating
-Vegetarianism
-GMO/Consumer Awareness
-Soy Foods
-Glycemic Index/Weight management
-Fad Diets
-Role of Nutrition in Primary Care
-Early First Nation's Plant Diet
-Cooking Demo

What: Free Herbal Consultations
When: Thursdays 5-9pm, Saturdays 10am-5pm
Where: Dominion Herbal College Clinic, Burnaby, BC
Contact: for appointment, 604-526-8835

A clinic intensive will be held April 4-9, April 11-16, during which clinic hours are 10am-5pm.