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Campaign to Ban Chemical Lawn Pesticides

Campaign underway to ban the use and sale of cosmetic chemical lawn pesticides

Please consider emailing B.C. Environment Minister Terry Lake at: with the subject line:

I support an immediate ban on the use and sale of cosmetic chemical lawn and garden pesticides

and please BCC:

The Canadian Cancer Society, BC & Yukon Division is working to ban the use and sale of cosmetic chemical lawn and garden pesticides to protect all British Columbians, especially children and pets, and the campaign is gaining momentum!

By asking our Legislative Assembly to take immediate action to implement cosmetic chemical pesticide legislation, all British Columbians province wide will be better protected from needless exposure to lawn and garden pesticides.

In my North Vancouver neighborhood a resident routinely used toxic lawn weeding chemicals commercially sprayed by a local company who wore protective breathing apparatus while on the job! Dogs and cats living on either side of this unknowing neighbor died of lymphoma, seizures, and other causes - many prematurely. I can't help but think there may have been a correlation in some cases...

Thanks for your support! Deborah

For more info please contact:

Britt Karlstrom, Public Outreach Specialist, Canadian Cancer Society,
BC & Yukon Division

Tags: advocacy, cancer, chemicals, garden, lawn, legislation, pesticides

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Permalink Reply by Colin Angel on May 22, 2012 at 6:33pm

It looks like the committee shut this one down... no ban and mostly self-regulation by business, which we all know is ineffective.

Unfortunately politicians wave the magic wand of "the lack of science-based evidence" and expect us to believe we're safe. How many times do we have to be burned (thalidomide, DDT, BPA... the list goes on) before our government starts truly protecting us as they have pledged? We need to apply the precautionary principle, not wait for "proof" 10-20 years from now when it's too late!!!

"The Committee concluded that despite the intensity of arguments in favour of a ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides and a general misunderstanding of the risks associated with chemicals, there is insufficient scientific evidence to support a province-wide ban on pesticides for cosmetic use. The majority of the Committee supports using science-based evidence and will not restrict access to products that are approved for safe use in Canada. "

Special Committee on Cosmetic Pesticides - Report

Colin