Editor,
RE: “A ban is difficult” (March 18)
Actually, a ban isn’t so difficult. Prohibitions on lawn and garden pesticides have now been enacted in cities and provinces across Canada – and the results have been very encouraging. The science shows that people exposed to these chemicals are at greater risk for cancers, neurological illness (such as Parkinson’s), and birth defects.
So pesticide bans have been protecting citizens from a variety of dangerous medical conditions. These bans have also been successful in protecting family pets and drinking water.
As well, cities with pesticide bylaws have seen their lawn-care sector grow. In the five years following enactment of a pesticide bylaw in Halifax, for example, the number of landscaping and lawn care businesses in that city increased by 53 per cent.
Physicians for the Environment urges Summerside to ban lawn and garden pesticides at the earliest possible date. This common-sense policy will enhance public health and – if Summerside is like other cities that have eliminated these poisons — prove very popular with local residents.
Gideon Forman
Executive Director,
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
via Pesticide ban not so hard – Letter to the Editor – The Journal Pioneer.
