Homeowners annually apply 5.5-12.5 kg of pesticides per hectare of lawn which is higher than the rate per unit area in most agricultural areas by a factor of up to 5.

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Who we are

• Emily McMillan
• Director
• Atlantic Canada Chapter
• Sierra Club of Canada
• Halifax

• Andrea Peart
• Director
• Health and Environment
• Sierra Club of Canada
• Ottawa

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Introductions
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Menu

• Tool Kits
• Background Statistics
• Pesticide Registration
• PMRA
• Childrens Health
• Lawn Care Pesticides
• Pesticide By-laws and the Law
• Paving the Way, the 4 Basics
• Dos Donts
• Breakout Groups

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Background

• Statistics

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Homeowners annually apply 5.5-12.5 kg of
pesticides per hectare of lawn which is higher
than the rate per unit area in most agricultural
areas by a factor of up to 5.
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• One study showed the average urban Canadian
  applying 9kg of pesticide/acre compared to 2kg of
  pesticides / acre for soybean farmers.

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• The Quebec Poison Control Centre and the Quebec
  Ministry of Environment and Wildlife released
  statistics on pesticide poisoning in 1996. They
  reported a staggering 1,650 poisoning cases.
  79.4 of the cases were in private homes, and
  46.1 of the victims were children under age
  five. 31 of these cases were due to oral
  ingestion, and 34.9 followed a pesticide
  application.

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• Herbicide exposure before one year of age
  increases a childs risk of asthma by over four
  and a half times.

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• Research has indicated that parents who use
  pesticides in the home once or twice a week were
  nearly 2.5 times as likely to have children with
  non-Hodgekins lymphoma, if pesticides were used
  on a more daily basis, children were 7 times more
  likely to experience the cancer.

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• A Los Angeles study indicated parents use of
  pesticides on the lawn or garden during pregnancy
  was associated with a 5.6 fold increase in
  childhood leukemia.

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• The use of professional pest control services at
  any time from 1 year before birth to 3 years
  after was associated with a significantly
  increased risk of childhood leukemia.

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Background

• Pesticides

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Pesticide Registration

• Pesticides are registered in Canada by the Pest
  Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), which is
  part of Health Canada
• The mandate of the PMRA is both to register new
  pesticides and re-evaluate old ones

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Does registered mean safe?
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Does registered mean safe?

• NO
• Health Canada wont let you say that registered
  means safe

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Safety tests are inadequate

• Test for acute not chronic
• Subjects are exposed over short not long periods
  of time
• Use healthy adult male subjects, not elderly,
  pregnant, ill or pesticide sensitive subjects
• Test for single chemicals only
• Dont test the entire product, only the active
  ingredient
• Talk more about testing later

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Health Risks of Pesticide Use

• Brain, breast, stomach, prostate testicular
  cancer
• childhood leukemia
• endocrine disruption (endometriosis, reduced
  fertility, breast cancer, prostate cancer,
  testicular cancer)
• Parkinsons disease
• Learning disabilities
• Reduced intellectual abilities and neurotoxicity

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How does this apply to lawns?

• Homeowners annually apply 5 times the amount of
  pesticides per acre than is used agriculturally
• Pesticide use for aesthetic purposes arent
  necessary
• They drift and interfere with the right of
  neighbours to be safe and healthy in their own
  homes

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Common landscape pesticides

• In the home and garden the most common
  pesticides in Canada are
• 2,4-D
• Glyphosate
• Imidacloprid
• Carbaryl
• Diazinon

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• Chemical fact sheets on the most popular lawn
  care chemicals are available at
• www.sierraclub.ca

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Background

• Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA)

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PMRA

• 405 old pesticides contained in thousands of
  commercial products that the PMRA pledged to
  re-evaluate by 2006
• By 2004, the PMRA had completed 61 of 405
• Of the 61 completed 53 were taken off the market.

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Slow re-evaluations

• Eg. the re-evaluation of DEET, the widely used
  insect repellent, began in 1990
• The re-evaluation took 12 years and was not
  completed until 2002
• At that time the use of DEET was substantially
  restricted.

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Inerts

• Over 3700 ingredients can legally be concealed in
  pesticides
• Can make up 97 of the product
• Can contain other pesticides
• Can be more toxic than active ingredients
• Arent tested by the PMRA
• Are considered trade secrets

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Synergistic effects

• Pesticides are tested one by one in labs.
  Pesticides are not tested in combination,
  although their synergistic effects may be
  amplified as much as 1000 times.

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• We dont live in labs we live in the real world
  where people are frequently exposed to multiple
  pesticides.

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Body Burden

• A Centres for Disease Control study of the body
  burden of over 9,000 people in the US found that
  out of 34 pesticides tested for, the average
  American had 13 different pesticides in their
  body.
• Fact that North Americans have multiple
  pesticides in their bodies indicates a dramatic
  failure of government to regulate pesticides

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Risk Management Model

• Hasnt been effective at predicting the
  ecological and health effects
• Has trouble calculating subtler, less
  quantifiable risks
• What cant be quantified is excluded from the
  risk analysis
• the Russian Roulette example

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Precautionary Principle

• When there is reason to believe that a pesticide
  can cause harm
• Even if there is not conclusive evidence to prove
  a causal relationship
• We should do more research and take preventative
  measures

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Background

• Children

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Children

• Children are particularly sensitive to pesticides

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Children

• Children eat more food, drink more water
  breathe more air per kg body weight
• Have underdeveloped immune systems
• Play where pesticides are
• Demonstrate hand to mouth behaviour

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Questions?
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Background

• Lawn care

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Lawn care pesticides arent safe

• Youre going to hear a lot of people who will
  tell you that lawn care pesticides are safe.
  This is a lie.

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Healthy Lawns

• Healthy lawns?
• There are safe practical alternatives.
• It just doesnt make sense to put people in
  our communitys health at risk when there
  are other options!

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Healthy Lawn Tips

• Healthy Lawn Tips
• mow high (3 inches)
• mow often enough that only 1/3rd is removed at a
  time and leave the clippings
• water deeply (a nice deep water once a week
  dont overdo it!)
• Aerate once a year
• Fertilize twice a year with organic non-chemical
  fertilizer DONT OVERFERTILIZE

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Background

• By-laws

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The Hudson Decision

• The Hudson Supreme Court Decision as well as the
  federal Minister of Health have expressed that
  municipalities do not only have the right but the
  responsibility to protect the health of its
  citizens.

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Significance of Hudson

• The Hudson Supreme Court decision supersedes all
  other municipal acts - we just need someone to
  change them

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Right to spray and the law

• Although someone may have the right to spray
  pesticides on their property people also have the
  right not to have pesticides on their property.
• If we allow the cosmetic use of pesticides that
  right to not have pesticides on your lawn or in
  your body is infringed upon.

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• Pesticides know no boundaries or property lines.
• They drift (225 ft. radius) they eventually end
  up in our rain, in our drinking water and our
  bodies.

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Components of a Great By-law

• Lots of public education and involvement
• A complete phase-out of the cosmetic use of
  pesticides
• No permit systems
• A membership in on organic standards board
• Complaint-based enforcement

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Questions?
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Paving the way

• The four basics

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1. Form a Group Make Allies

• Start a Health initiative community group working
  towards a pesticide phaseout
• Make Allies parent groups, womens groups,
  allergy associations, Dads, doctors, daycares,
  Moms, school principals, professors, Canada post
  employees, pet owners...
• Keep a database of their names, addresses and
  phone numbers.

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2. Be patient and polite

• From the start be VERY polite, listen, dont
  talk at people and be patient it can be
  difficult sometimes but always be polite and
  patient.

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3. Collect Letters

• One of the first priorities is to collect letters
  of support for a by-law from doctors in your
  municipality.

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4. Develop Materials

• Another priority is to develop materials such as
• postcards
• pledges
• petitions
• Dear parents letters
• sample letters for doctors
• fact sheets
• information booklets
• buttons

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Questions?

• The four basics

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Paving the Way

• DOs

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DO - Push alternatives

• Distribute materials on how to have a healthy
  pesticide-free lawn.
• Sell lawn signs.
• Have a lawn and garden fair.
• Hold public education meetings where you offer
  healthy lawn tips.
• Have a best pesticide-free lawn and garden
  contest.

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DO - Educate the public first

• Spend some time focusing on educating the public
  about the regulation of pesticides, the misuse of
  pesticides, the health risks associated with
  pesticide use and alternatives to pesticides.

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DO Use your materials

• Go to dog parks
• Talk to postal workers
• Plug into parents groups
• Visit your childs teacher and principal
• Talk to your hairdresser
• Network, network, network!

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DO - Use the media

• Write letters to the editor in your local paper
  about the pesticide issue.
• Note
• Stay away from trying to prove any health risk.

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DO Meet with councilors

• Meet with councilors INDIVIDUALLY
• Encourage them to ask questions
• Develop a friendly relationship with the
  councilors
• Meetings should be about half an hour to an hour
  - dont waste their time and gauge their
  reactions

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Sample statements

• All I am asking you to do is listen and to make
  your own decision.
• I in no way profit from decisions that are made
  in this room.
• When industry people express their concerns dont
  forget that they are profiting financially from
  the sale of pesticides while they share no burden
  of the costs our poor health due to their
  products.

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DO Have an insider

• Find a pesticide by-law champion on Municipal
  Council.

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DO - Keep Working

• Create a list of excerpts from all the doctors
  letters
• 10 reasons over 10 days
• Have community members phone their councilors and
  ask them about the pesticide issue
• Hand in your signed petitions

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DO Request a consultation

• Ask your councilor what date there will be a
  public consultation on the pesticide issue
• Have all of your contacts ask your councilors
  what date there will be a public consultation on
  the pesticide issue

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At the public consultation

• Help and encourage people to make presentations
• Call everyone who promised to make a presentation
• Have place holders for doctors or other really
  busy people
• Arrive early so health initiative folks have the
  front rows
• Make sure all the pro-by-law folks are wearing a
  button

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Strategy

• DONTs

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Dont

• Dont try to prove that pesticides cause
  cancer - you will start a science war and this is
  a bad idea, a very bad idea

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Dont

• Dont go to city council too soon
• Help out your municipal council by showing that
  people support the idea of a pesticide by-law
• You must have widespread public support before
  you go to municipal council

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Dont

• Dont ever waste a municipal councilors time.

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Dont

• Dont ever insult anyone be it a city counsilor,
  a medical officer of health or even your
  neighbours to their face or behind their back,
  not in letters, not over the phone, not at the
  coffee shop.

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Dont

• Dont treat every town the same - it is your
  community so think about your own communitys
  needs and values. Use methods that will work in
  your municipality.

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Dont

• Unless you or your family member has been
  diagnosed by a doctor as being sensitive to
  pesticides or as been diagnosed by a doctor by
  being poisoned by pesticides Dont tell
  personal stories

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Dont

• Avoid discussing West Nile virus. Eventually
  someone else will bring up the issue and then you
  can discuss some specifics regarding alternatives
  and the risks associated with the pesticides used
  to combat West Nile virus.

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• Great West Nile virus information is available
  at
• www.sierraclub.ca

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Thats all folks!
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Whats next?

• Discuss next steps
• Where is this going?

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Thank-you very much!
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