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Environmental groups have forced Ottawa to review the approval of up to 383 pesticide products containing 23 active ingredients including many with links to cancer and water contamination.
After a legal challenge by Ecojustice on behalf of Equiterre and the David Suzuki Foundation, the federal government will examine these pesticide products, which contain ingredients that are already banned for us in Europe, and will decide whether to ban or restrict their use in Canada.
The harmful impacts of these pesticides are well known. For example, Europe has banned Atrazine, one of the chemicals in the lawsuit, since 2004, but it is still approved in Canada for use on corn. Atrazine is a frequently detected herbicide widely contaminating Canadian surface water and groundwater, and poses health risks as an endocrine disruptor.
With the initiation of these special reviews, the environmental groups have won the first round in their efforts to protect the environment and Canadians' health. With this victory, the groups will now seek to put their lawsuit on hold, to give Canada time to fully commit to its legal duties to conduct pesticide reviews.
For more information, consult the press release: Groups had to sue the Minster of Health to secure reviews of pesticides already banned in Europe
