Deregistered Pesticide Poisons B.C. Wildlife While Foot-dragging Continues
Dr. Wier is talking about a four-year CWS study which was released in August. It looked at forestry use of an arsenic-based pesticide, which until Dec. 31, 2004 was approved by Health Canada despite new knowledge that showed it to be far more toxic than previously understood - capable even of causing genetic mutation.
In Dr. Wier's five-year campaign to focus media, industry and regulators' attention on this dangerous substance and the problematic process that allowed its continued use, she has found the response of B.C.'s environment and forest ministries and federal health and environment ministries, to be consistently sluggish. That hasn't changed.
"There has been absolutely no follow-up on the recommendations of the Forest Practices Board report in November 2004 and a B.C. environment ministry audit in Sept. 2004, which found major problems with the use of MSMA," reports Dr. Wier.
It took eight more months for provincial agencies to implement the audit's recommendation to convene and meet with a multi-stakeholder committee of government decision-makers, scientists, forest industry representatives and citizens, to decide how to dispose of half a million poorly tracked, MSMA-contaminated trees in B.C. forests.
It took much longer for government to even consider CWS research findings, which were communicated at an international science conference in late 2004, a detailed workshop attended by committee members in January 2005, and again by letter in February 2006.
It was only at Wier's insistence that B.C. forest ministry staff agreed to reconsider its draft policy in light of the CWS research. This led to yet another postponement of the committee's next meeting, until January 2007, two years after the CWS first reported its findings.
"While work carries on at this glacial pace, with public representatives refusing to factor in science until concerned citizens insist that they do, MSMA finds its way into the environment, affecting wildlife and eventually, people," says Dr. Wier.
To Wier, the entire MSMA fiasco shows what shouldn't be done when new scientific findings challenge the safety of registered pesticides. She says it illustrates problems identified in four successive audits by Canada's Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development since 1988:
? Agencies such as Health Canada's Pesticide Management and Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and B.C.'s forest and environment ministries are under-resourced in terms of staff and expertise to adequately evaluate the safety of MSMA and other pesticides.
? Too few safety checks and effective mechanisms of recourse exist for citizens who disagree with PMRA decisions.
? Provincial and federal health, environment and forest ministries are seriously hindered by a lack of inter-agency co-ordination.
Dr. Wier points out that MSMA is one of 405 "older pesticides" approved by the PMRA, which the Commissioner indicated cannot be assured to be safe. She recalls that it took an immense effort by citizens to prevent a larger scale toxic disaster, by successfully halting the poisoning of 57,500 additional trees, processing of poisoned logs in mills and burning of toxic wood waste in beehive burners.
"Clearly, there's something wrong with the system when citizens do the work of agencies mandated to protect human and ecosystem health, while these same agencies fight citizens trying to do the right thing," says Dr. Wier.
The solution, says Wier, is for government to:
? Implement habitat restoration, compensation and enhancement measures for birds affected by the misuse of MSMA, undertake more research to monitor its long-term effects, and open its findings to peer and public review.
? Act on reports of the Commissioner on the Environment and Sustainable Development, to properly resource Canada's PMRA and put more safety checks, and effective means of recourse for citizens, in place -- such as an independent panel of scientists to review controversial cases.
? Equip B.C.'s forest and environment ministries with sufficient staff resources, including dedicated toxicologists, to fulfill their mandate of protecting the public interest.
? Implement the Precautionary Principle when there is insufficient knowledge about a potentially harmful new substance.
"As a former pediatrician, I'm aware that the toxic world we are creating is exposing children, even in utero, to pesticides," concludes Dr. Wier.
"We know the effects of exposure, such as cancer, aren't always easy to prove because they manifest decades later. This makes it even more important to fully embrace the Precautionary Principle, and to take the introduction of genotoxins like MSMA into the food chain extremely seriously."
MEDIA CONTACT
Dr. Josette Wier
josettecp@bulkley.net
MEDIA BACKGROUNDER
? The Canadian Wildlife Service study is titled Assessing Forest Bird Exposure and Effects from Monosodium Methanearsonate (MSMA) during Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic in British Columbia, Canadian Wildlife Service Technical Report Series Number 460, 2006. Its authors include world-renowned arsenic expert Dr. W.R. Cullen, Chemistry Department, UBC.
? Abstract of the study authors' preliminary findings, as of November 2005, are available at http://abstracts.co.allenpress.com/pweb/setac2005/document/?ID=56682; the complete report can be obtained from the Canadian Wildlife Service at cws-css@ec.gc.ca.
? As of Dec. 31, 2004, MSMA is no longer approved for use in Canada. Partly as a result of Dr. Wier's campaign, the B.C.'s Ministry of Forests has committed to destroy its existing stocks of the pesticide.
? The B.C.'s environment ministry audit was completed in Sept. 2004; the committee's first meeting did not take place until April 2005.
? The draft policy to deal with the toxic legacy of MSMA-contaminated trees was initially tabled by B.C. forest ministry chief chief entomologist Peter Hall.
? Canada's Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development's most recent (2003) audit on the subject of pesticides, referred to in this media release, is available at http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/c20031001ce.html
? The most widely cited definition of the Precautionary Principle emerged from the 1992 (Rio) United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, which states: "Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation". Many health and environmental groups in Canada and other countries have challenged the Rio definition and endorsed the definition advanced by treaty negotiators, activists, scholars and scientists from the United States, Canada and Europe Wingspread Conference in 1998: "When an activity raises threats of harm to human health, or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationship are not fully scientifically established".
? Canada advocated inclusion of the Precautionary Principle during the UN-sponsored Bergen Conference on Sustainable Development (1990).
? The Precautionary Principle is codified in several Canadian laws, including Oceans Act (1996), the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (1999) and the Endangered Species Act (1998).
? For more information about the exposure of children to industrial pollutants, please view this May 2006 report Toxic Chemicals and Children's Health in North America, published by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), http://www.cec.org/files/PDF/POLLUTANTS/CHE_Toxics_en.pdf The CEC is an international organization created by Canada, Mexico and the United States. It was established under the North American Free Trade Agreement to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and to promote the effective enforcement of environmental law.
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