Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News is the newsletter of the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund, published five times per year. The News is intended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.
Volume 15, Number 2 • Summer 2007
Lake Huron
Basin Update - Ontario Side
Working toward a Pesticide Free Lake
By Ray Letheren, Friends of Bayfield River, Bayfield, Ontario
The frog had five legs. Why? Humans use
chemical pesticides to enhance crop and
lawn development and appearances.
While not the sole cause, these chemicals
may act as a growth hormone, a protein
that is suspected of causing abnormal
development. Can this frog issue be
translated to human development? No
person is prepared to voluntarily expose
oneself to tests involving pesticides, so we
are required to accept that what is happening to this bell-weather
amphibian could be happening to humans.
Studies throughout Europe, Canada and the USA have
demonstrated a relationship between cancer and other
abnormal conditions and pesticide use. A US study shows women
golfers have a significantly higher rate of breast cancer than the
general population. A Saskatchewan study shows that farmers have
a higher rate of testicular cancer. A recent Swedish study drew a
relationship between Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and pesticides.
Canadian and Russian studies find that children have immune system
alterations and a higher risk of infectious disease. An Ohio
based producer of a commonly used pesticide warns in its product
fact sheet (required by US law),"overexposure may affect the central
nervous system".
Some of the commonly used pesticides are 2,4-D, Mecoprop, and
Dicamba. These are classified as phenoxy herbicides that impact
the living creature by blocking the transmission of nerve
impulses and inhibiting mineral conductivity across the nerve cells.
It is estimated that, in addition, there are up to 250 inert ingredients
that are not identified.
US and Canadian federal laws empower municipalities to "protect
the health and safety" of citizens. From coast to coast in Canada,
towns and cities have followed the lead of the small Quebec
community of Hudson by enacting legislation to restrict the use of
non-essential (cosmetic) pesticides. Their right to enact a by-law
was upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada. More than 125
communities now have by-laws in place, protecting 47% of the
Canadian population.
Still, it remains a struggle for
others to move municipal
councils to adopt legislation.
There are two recurrent issues
cited: 1) the pesticide use in
small towns is insignificant
compared to agricultural use
and 2) the fear that once urban
areas have bylaws the agricultural
industry will be targeted.
Community groups will
continue to press their respective
Councils to engage in
discussion on the pesticide issue while joining forces with Pesticide
Free Ontario to seek provincial legislation to restrict the use of
cosmetic pesticides. Perhaps with the environment regarded as the
number one issue facing Canadians, the time is right. Visit
www.pesticidefree.ca for resources and updates.
Sources referenced in this article include the Canadian and American
Cancer Societies, David Suzuki Foundation (2007), Rachael's
Environmental Health (2004), Ontario College of Family Physicians
review of over 600 publications on the hazards of
pesticides (2004), The Responsibility of Municipalities: a legal opinion
(Melissa McDonald, LLB), and the "Making the Right Choices" report
by the Canadian House of Commons joint committee on Sustainable
Development (2000).
For more information contact: Geoff Peach, Coastal Resources
Manager, The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation,
at (519) 523-4478 or geoff.peach@lakehuron.on.ca
www.lakehuron.on.ca
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