Canada is a world leader in regulating pesticides
By Peter Chan, The Daily News February 8, 2012
Re: 'Assertion on regulation of pesticides is disputed' (Daily News, Jan. 28)
In her letter, Liz Fox suggests Health Canada makes "arbitrary" decisions when it comes to pesticides.
In fact, Canada is a world leader in pesticide regulation, using modern scientific information and assessment methods that follow internationally accepted guidelines. Integrated approaches to testing and assessment offer the possibility of more efficient decisions on the human health and environmental risks of chemicals, including pesticides.
They can reduce the need for extensive animal testing, without compromising existing safety standards.
However, as the Council of Canadian Academies' comprehensive review points out, many of the tools needed for this approach are still under development and will require several years of testing and validation before they can be considered to be reliable enough to be fully adopted.
In the meantime, Health Canada has taken action to ensure that information on formulations is accurate and meets current standards. Formulants posing the greatest potential risk have already been virtually eliminated from pesticide products.
Peter Chan, director general, Health Evaluation Directorate Pest Management Regulatory Agency, Health Canada
http://www.canada.com/Canada+world+leader+regulating+pesticides/6118548/story.html