The Canadian Cancer Society is urging municipalities across New Brunswick to ban the use of pesticides on residential and public property.
Apr 12 2006 CBC News

The Canadian Cancer Society says evidence linking pesticides with cancer is growing, and it simply doesn’t make sense to use a substance that could cause cancer to make a lawn look pretty.

Lynn Ann Duffley speaks for the Canadian Cancer Society in New Brunswick and says a ban is especially important to protect children. “We do know that children are very susceptible to the toxins within pesticides. And we know that repeated exposures to pesticides can increase the incidence of brain cancer, leukemia, non-hodgkins lymphoma.”

CropLife Canada is a trade association that represents pesticide companies, and its executive director Peter MacLeod rejects the cancer society’s argument. “I think that their explanation is very simplistic and misleading.”

MacLeod says no pesticide used in Canada is known to cause cancer, and he believes towns and cities should steer clear of regulation. “We just feel that municipalities by and large do not have the scientific capacity to make that choice, whether a product should be used or not. We should leave that to Health Canada.”

Seventy-three municipalities across Canada have already banned pesticide use, but only three of those are in New Brunswick – Shediac, Caraquet and Sackville. St. Andrews is holding a public hearing on the matter on April 24.