Manitoba pressured on ‘cosmetic’ pesticides

If you missed the recent CBC T.V. clip about the status of Manitoba’s Cosmetic Pesticide use, check it out at this link:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/05/26/mb-lawn-chemical-ban.html

Here are a 2 points I found interesting:   (Yes, let’s talk precautionary principle!!!)

1)  “Winnipeg oncologist Dr.Matthew Seftel says the science is compelling.  Though he admits no studies have proven pesticides cause cancer, he says there’s enough evidence to suggest there’s a risk, and he hopes Manitoba will adopt a ban as a precaution.  “And that’s what the precautionary principle is,” Seftel said.  “To say, even though we don’t have 100 per cent proof, the weight of the evidence is moving in that direction.”

2)  “The Provincial Government’s Conservation Minister’s advisory council, the Manitoba Rountable on Sustainability, also recommended a ban in a recent report.   The report also says medical studies, compiled by the Ontario College of Family Physicians in 2004, have linked pesticides with a dizzying list of diseases: breast cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, lung cancer, congenital malformations, childhood leukemia, kidney cancer, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s.”