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Frequently Asked Questions

ORGANIZATIONS LIKE

THE CANADIAN CANCER

SOCIETY SAY THERE IS

A GROWING BODY OF

EVIDENCE PESTICIDES

MAY CAUSE A VARIETY

OF HEALTH PROBLEMS.

DO PESTICIDES

CAUSE CANCER?

SHOULD I AVOID EATING

CERTAIN FRUITS AND

VEGETABLES BECAUSE

THEY HAVE HIGH LEVELSOF PESTICIDE RESIDUES

ON THEM?

ARENT PESTICIDES

RESPONSIBLE FOR CAUSING

A WIDE RANGE OF HEALTH

PROBLEMS?

Health Canada, whose number one priority is the health of Canadians, ensures that

pest control products are safe for human health and the environment before they

are approved for use in Canada.

Over 350 top experts in a range of scientic specialities are employed by

Health Canada exclusively for this purpose and their work is internationally

recognized for its quality.

These organizations are able to pick and choose what evidence they pay attention

to and what evidence they dismiss.

These allegations have been made for decades, but Health Canada evaluates

all available and credible scientic evidence and if these concerns were valid,

Health Canada would revoke product approval.

No, pesticides are subject to Canadas strict regulatory requirements and they are

not approved here unless Health Canada is condent that they can be safely used.

The idea that pesticide residues on food are somehow a health hazard

is a myth.

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, about 88 per cent

of all fresh food items and 90 per cent of processed food items show

no traces of pesticides at all. In those instances where trace amounts

of pesticides are found, it is usually in the range of parts per million or

less much, much too low to have any impact whatsoever.

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HEALTH AND SAFETY PESTICIDES

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GENETICALLY MODIFIED

FOODS HAVE CREATED

ALLERGIES THAT DIDNT

EXIST YEARS AGO.

HOW CAN WE BE SURE

THERE WONT BE NEGATIVE

LONG-TERM EFFECTS

OF GENETICALLY

MODIFIED CROPS?

KIDS ARE GETTING BIGGER

(UNHEALTHIER) THESE

DAYS AND ITS BECAUSE

OF ALL OF THE GENETICALLY

MODIFIED FOOD. AFTER ALL,

SOYBEANS & CORN ARE IN

EVERYTHING

That is not true. There is no evidence of increased levels of allergens or the

introduction of new allergens as a result of plant biotechnology. This is one of many

factors examined by Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency

before it will allow a plant biotechnology crop to be sold as a food for people.

Plant biotechnology has been around for decades already and nothing has

indicated there is any reason for concern. More than one trillion meals containing

biotech crop ingredients have been consumed with zero, reliably documented

evidence of harm to human health.

If in fact kids are bigger today than they used to be its for one of two reasons.

First of all, people are getting better nutrition than ever before and many kids are

bigger and stronger than the generations before them.

If its obesity that youre referring to, that has nothing to do with plant

biotechnology and everything to do with the amount of junk food and inactivity

that is pervasive today.

ARE FOODS THAT CONTAIN

GENETICALLY MODIFIED

INGREDIENTS SAFE TO EAT?

Yes. Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have beenassessing these crops for over two decades and they have determined that these

crops are safe to eat. In fact, regulatory agencies around the world, including the

World Health Organization, have all endorsed GM crops.

HEALTH AND SAFETY PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY

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HOW CAN HEALTH CANADA

BE TRUSTED WHEN THE

TESTS THEY USE ARE

SUBMITTED BY INDUSTRY?

It is industrys responsibility to ensure all of the required scientic studies are

submitted to Health Canada for the approval process. That doesnt diminish the

integrity of the process; it just places the burden for - and expense of - collecting

the appropriate information where it ought to be: with the developer. Health Canadastrictly denes what information is required and demands that the studies meet

international standards, and accesses data available from other, non-industry

sources including reports from other parts of the world.

Industry may be responsible for conducting and nancing the studies, but

Health Canada determines whether the results meet the criteria it establishes

for approving products.

HEALTH AND SAFETY GENERAL

ARENT ORGANIC FOODS

HEALTHIER FOR ME?

ISNT IT JUST SAFER TO

EAT ORGANIC FOOD?

HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT

PESTICIDES ARE SAFE FOR

HUMANS WHEN THEY ARE

DESIGNED TO KILL?

No, studies indicate whether a crop is grown organically or with the help of tools

like pesticides or plant biotechnology does not generally impact the nutritional

value of food.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency requires all foods regardless of how they

are grown be assessed by the same criteria.

A bigger risk than how food is grown is how it is prepared. Improper food

preparation and storage are a much greater risk to you than how what you

eat is grown.

Pesticides are designed to kill pests, not people, and like many things that we use

every day (household cleaners, cars), pesticides should be used according to label

directions to ensure they are both safe and effective.

DONT GENETICALLY

MODIFIED CROPS RUIN

OUR BIODIVERSITY?

No, ensuring that plant biotechnology crops will not negativity impact

biodiversity is a priority for our industry and a requirement of Canadas

stringent regulatory process.

ENVIRONMENT

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WHY USE PESTICIDES IN THE

CITY WHEN ITS JUST FORCOSMETIC PURPOSES?

ISNT IT MORE IMPORTANT

TO HAVE HEALTHY PEOPLE

THAN NICE LAWNS?

Every pesticide sold in Canada including those made specically for home use

are assessed by Health Canada to ensure they do not pose an unacceptable risk to

human health or the environment.

The reason that urban pesticides exist is that tools are required to keep pestpressures from getting out of hand and destroying important things like lawns, trees

and gardens which add value to our homes and make cities and towns nicer places

to live.

It isnt an either-or question. Pesticides are subject to Canadas strict regulatory

requirements and they are not approved in Canada unless Health Canada is

condent that they can be safely used.

URBAN

WHY USE CHEMICALS

WHEN THERE ARE

NATURAL ALTERNATIVES?

Supporters of bans on urban pesticides often point to natural alternatives to bolster

their argument. But a pesticide is designed to control pests, regardless of whether it

is natural or synthetic.

That is why Health Canada, in its efforts to protect Canadians, assesses all pesticides

regardless of whether they are natural or synthetic in the same manner.

A ban does little more than dramatically restrict the number of safe and effective pest

control products for individuals, businesses and municipalities.

In addition, the mistaken perception that natural means safe is bad enough that

Health Canada has had to warn Canadians that various home remedies toutedon the Internet are actually quite dangerous. The alert can be found on the

PMRA web site.

ISNT IT TRUE THAT

PESTICIDES ARE

PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS

FOR CHILDREN (OR

PETS OR PREGNANT

WOMEN)?

COULDNT PEOPLE AVOID

HAVING TO USE PESTICIDES

IF THEY JUST TOOK BETTER

CARE OF THEIR LAWNS?

Under the Pest Control Products Act, over 200 separate scientic studies addressing

a range of health and environment issues are undertaken before a product can

be registered.

Through this process special attention is paid to ensuring that all Canadians, including

infants, children, pregnant women and the elderly, are specically protected.

Health Canada understands that there are differences between segments of society

(such as childrens hand to mouth contact) and they take these differences into

account when determining whether to register a product for sale and use in Canada.

Regardless of how well you maintain your lawn and garden, the fact is it is a

living ecosystem that uctuates. That means that from time-to-time even the

best-maintained spaces will face insect, weed and/or disease infestations that

require intervention.