Pesticides: Chemicals of Concern for Human and Environmental Health and Justice

The combination of toxic pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss are putting social and economic well-being at risk. One of the contributions to this trifecta of problems in Canada is the over-reliance on pesticides (including also herbicides, insecticides and fungicides) which are used primarily in agriculture, but also forestry, gardening and more. Pesticides contribute to biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions. They are linked with serious human health concerns including cancers, reproductive harm, developmental effects and neurological conditions.
 

The Human Health Impacts of Pesticides Are Not Acceptable Risks

Pesticide exposure is linked to cancers, reproductive problems, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Parkinson’s disease and more. Studies document pesticides in pregnant people’s bodies, amniotic fluid, umbilical cord and breast milk. In Quebec, pesticides were found in 98.7 percent of children tested. Research shows that DDT — banned long ago — is still detectable in the breast milk of Inuit people. Families of Ontario farmers who used the herbicide glyphosate experienced increased miscarriages and premature births. A case-control study in Essex and Kent counties in Ontario also found elevated breast cancer risk among farm women.
 

 

What Is CAPE Doing?

CAPE’s advocacy and action on pesticides stems back to our organization’s early days, and CAPE remains active on pesticides today. We are supporting pesticides campaigns in various places across so-called Canada. We engage with the media and government, researching and commenting on specific pesticides related issues and consultations as they emerge. We participate in sessions with Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and promote the work of other organizations more deeply engaged in pesticides work. We contribute to improving pesticides legislation and regulation, regularly signing joint statements and campaign opportunities.
 

What Is CAPE Calling For?

CAPE is advocating for reduction targets, such as the EU goal of cutting pesticide use in half by 2030, for Canada. Environmental, animal, forest, nature conservation and farming advocates are all talking with the government about centring climate action, taking action on biodiversity and reducing emissions – and pesticides reductions are a critical part of these conversations. Environmental justice principles should inform how we deal with pesticides, including policies based on mutual respect and justice for all, affirming the right of workers to a safe and healthy work environment, and a just transition for affected communities.

Prioritizing harm prevention is also critical. Safe, effective alternative products and nature-based pest control solutions are mostly sidelined in big agriculture, despite benefits to human, animal and environmental health. The Lancet’s manifesto of “a planet that nourishes and sustains the diversity of life with which we coexist and depend,” paired with the determinants of planetary health and Indigenous-specific knowledge-gathering methods, should be heeded. 

As Indigenous scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer says, we “demand an economy that is aligned with life, not stacked against it.”
 

Government Action on Pesticides

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) have been tasked with ensuring people in Canada are better protected from risks linked to pesticides, following years of reports and coverage of the agency’s failures to protect environmental health.

Canada must also take action on a suite of new measures to deliver on its commitments as a signatory to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,¹ including importantly Target 7 which says it must “reduce pollution risks and the negative impact of pollution from all sources, by 2030”, while “reducing the overall risk from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half,” and “preventing, reducing, and working towards eliminating plastic pollution.”

The PMRA transformation agenda and any Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) revisions should side with human health and the prohibition of hazardous pesticides. Health risks are incompatible with our need for safe food, healthy communities and workers, and a livable planet.
 

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