Acre - Views on cancer and pesticides

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Views on cancer and pesticides finally changing
Site Map by Suzanne Elston

Perhaps the greatest strength of grassroots environmentalists is

their remarkable tenacity. Raising public awareness about issues of
concern can often take years. Changing political and institutional
direction can take decades.

Such has been the battle to change our perception about the
cosmetic use of pesticides. Since Rachel Carson first sounded the
alarm about DDT in 1962, environmentalists have expressed their
concern that anything that can kill other living organisms must also
have an impact on human health.

They have patiently gathered evidence while encouraging the

scientific community to do the same. They have tried to persuade
the cancer establishment that the goal shouldn't be to beat cancer -
it should be to prevent it. They have educated their neighbours
about the safe alternatives to pesticides and have endured the wrath
of the major chemical companies that felt threatened by their
efforts.

After years of little perceptible movement on this issue, the walls of

the pesticide establishment are beginning to fall down. Last year,
after a 10-year legal battle, The Supreme Court of Canada
unanimously upheld the town of Hudson, Que.'s right to legislate the
use of pesticides. In handing down its decision, the court also
encouraged other municipalities to follow the Hudson example within
the broad domain of Canadian and international law.

The Supreme Court's decision immediately opened a floodgate of

political activity across the country. Hundreds of municipalities that
were awaiting the Hudson decision are now proceeding with their
own pesticide legislation.

The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) has also made what appears to
be a shift in its policy toward pesticides. Moving away from the
"Cancer Can Be Beaten" philosophy - its trademark for decades -
the CCS is beginning to recognize the importance of the
precautionary principle states, "When an activity raises threats of
harm to human health or to the environment, precautionary

http://acrechelsea.qc.ca/eng/viewsCan.html[4/10/2011 7:30:59 PM]

Acre - Views on cancer and pesticides

measures should be taken even if some cause-and-effect

relationships are not fully established scientifically."

In a Pesticide Symposium held last month in Caledon, the CCS gave

this statement: "The Canadian Cancer Society does not support the
use of carcinogenic chemical pesticides for cosmetic purposes. The
Canadian Cancer Society accepts convincing evidence that some
commonly used pesticides cause cancer. We call for a ban on the
use for cosmetic purposes of chemicals that have been identified by
IARC (International Agency on Research on Cancer) as known or
probable carcinogens."

Much of this "convincing evidence" has come from cancer patients

themselves. While struggling with their own disease, they have
fought to prevent others from suffering the same fate.

One such crusader was Dr. Nicole Bruinsma, a family doctor from
Chelsea, Que., who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997.
Bruinsma began to make the connection between her disease and
pesticides after viewing the documentary, Exposure: Environmental
Links to Breast Cancer. What she learned drove her to spearhead
efforts in her own community and throughout Canada. Last year an
article about Bruinsma in Saturday Night magazine caught the
attention of Peter Cantley, head of lawn and garden supplies for
Loblaws.

What followed is nothing short of a modern-day corporate miracle.

Last week, in a news release that has delighted health and
environmental activists across the country, Loblaw Companies
Limited announced that it will be chemical-pesticide-free by 2003 in
all of its 440 garden stores across Canada.

"In response to overwhelming consumer demand to eliminate

cosmetic use of pesticides in home gardens, Loblaw Companies
Limited has decided to discontinue the sale of chemical pesticides in
our garden centres, starting with the Spring season 2003", Loblaw
spokesperson Geoff Wilson said.

Sadly, the catalyst for Loblaw's decision didn't live to hear the
company's announcement. Bruinsma died on February 27, 2002 at
the age of 42.

Meanwhile, in our National Capital, Bruinsma's legacy and the legacy

of those who inspired her lives on. Forty years after Rachel Carson's
Silent Spring was published, the federal government finally
announced its long awaited legislation to limit use of pesticides late
last month.

Excerpt from the Western Catholic Reporter, April 8th, 2002 edition

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© 2003 ACRE Chelsea All rights reserved

Created: 2008-01-26 Legal notice

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