BC IPM Applicator Death

"The connection
was as plain
to Debbie
as the spectacular
hanging baskets
Brad was famous for
in downtown Peachland:

a link existed between
the pesticides
Brad used
and
the cancer
that took him.

When it came to
pesticide use,
Brad would have assumed
that what he was using
was safe . . ."

Do Pesticides Cause Cancer?
Dave Preston
Peachland View
March 15, 2007.

Help BC go Pesticide Free!

The Canadian Cancer Society
continues to lead BC's
health and environmental
groups' advocacy for a
province-wide ban.

See Coalition's Feb 3, 2012
ban statement.

Review ban legislation
given to BC's Environment
Minister in 2010.

Join the CCS's "Pesticide Free
BC" Facebook discussions.

Take action! to help BC
go pesticide free.
Risk of Exposure
Pesticides are everywhere. 
 
We are all at risk of pesticide exposure, whether we use these products or not.

We live in Our Stolen Future's chemical, endocrine disruption world.
 
Pesticide exposure can occur anywhere (and without us knowing).
 
Exposure occurs most often when pesticides are being used . . . in the home, around the home and at work.

Second-hand exposure can happen when people are on treated lawns and playgrounds, play on sport fields or golf, or walk around their neighbourhoods.

See "Our Right to Know" top right sidebar.
Pesticides enter our bodies three ways . . .
  • through the lungs (inhalation).
  • through the skin (contact).
  • by the mouth (ingestion).
Skin contact is the most likely type of pesticide exposure and happens when  . . .
  • a pesticide is being used, or
  • by contact with treated grass, plants or soil, or
  • from clothing (especially shoes) that have been in areas of pesticide use . . . like lawns, playgrounds, sidewalks, sport fields and golf courses.
Inhalation exposure occurs when . . .
  • pesticides are being used , or
  • pesticides evaporate after use and "drift" through the air.
Spray applications make applicators (and anyone nearby) very susceptible to inhalation of fine spray drops.
 
We unwittingly bring pesticide residues into our homes (and vehicles) on contaminated shoes and clothing – the residue can persist for over a year.

See left sidebar "BC IPM Applicator Death".

Young children are particularly at risk because of  . . .
  • inadvertent skin contact (they spend most of their time on, or near, the ground), and
  • inadvertent ingestion (toddlers put things in their mouths, including objects with pesticide residue).

Risk of exposure is why seven Canadian provinces have banned the sale and use of cosmetic pesticides.

See right sidebars . . . "Ont Ban Protects Vulnerable" and "Nova Scotia Limits Exposure".

For info on . . .
  • Why BC needs a strong "no IPM" ban (like Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec) and why this won't happen under the BC Liberals, click here.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 11 September 2013 13:02
 

Tell Premier Clark she needs to honour her 2011 pesticide ban commitment.

Call the Premier's office at 250 387 1715 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Together, let's make BC pesticide free.

                                                                          
 


Our "Right to Know"

"The choice, after all,
is ours to make.

If having endured much,
we have at least
asserted our
“right to know”
and if, knowing,
we have concluded
that we are being asked
to take senseless
and frightening risks,
then we should
no longer accept
the counsel
of those who tell us
we must fill our world
with poisonous chemicals,
we should look about
and see what other course
is open to us."

Rachel Carson.
Silent Spring. 1962.
p. 277 – 278.

Ont Ban Protects Vulnerable

"You can have
a healthy lawn and garden
without the unnecessary risk
posed by using
conventional pesticides
for purely cosmetic reasons.

We are reducing
the risk to our health
and to the environment,
and protecting
the most vulnerable
of our citizens, our children."

Ontario Minister
of the Environment
April 21, 2010
on first anniversary
of Ontario's ban.

Nova Scotia Limits Exposure

"We are making it easier
for the people
of this province
to limit their exposure to
unnecessary chemicals."

Nova Scotia Minister
of Environment announcing
April 1, 2011
pesticide ban regulations.