Statement: Environmental, worker, and health groups welcome cancelling of dangerous pesticide

 

Ottawa/Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg People, 4 December 2024 —Environment, worker, and health groups welcome the decision by Health Canada to cancel the registration of the pesticide flufenacet and all associated products containing the substance.

Flufenacet, a herbicide used in Canadian corn and soybean agriculture, is of particular concern because it breaks down into Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a persistent “forever” chemical linked to reproductive harm which accumulates in the environment over time.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which include TFA and other forever chemicals, are omnipresent and increasing in the environment, and are found in drinking water, food systems, and in the human body. Forever chemicals have been linked to a range of adverse health outcomes including cancers, liver damage, and low infant birth weight. Increasingly, pesticides containing these fluorinated chemicals are being developed and marketed to farmers in Canada. Allowing this trend to continue poses significant risks as these toxic chemicals accumulate in our environment.

In 2021, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) re-evaluated flufenacet and proposed to cancel its registration due to unacceptable risks to human health. Despite mounting pressure from industry to back down, the final re-evaluation decision, issued last Friday, confirmed cancellation of all pesticides containing flufenacet.

Environmental and health groups are calling on Health Canada to cancel all pesticides that contain or break down into forever chemicals.

 

Laura Bowman, Ecojustice lawyer, said:  

 

“Through this decision, Health Canada has acknowledged the potential harm caused by forever chemical pesticides. Now it needs to urgently move forward to ban tiafenacil, saflufenacil and the numerous other pesticides that are currently allowed to contaminate our food and drinking water with forever chemicals, some of which are banned in Europe but exported to Canada in large amounts. Under no circumstances should Canadians or workers have to tolerate spraying toxic forever chemicals on food.”

 

Mary Lou McDonald, President of Safe Food Matters, said:

 

“Following on the heels of the European Food Safety Authority review, Health Canada has finally decided to ban this forever chemical. It correctly applied the 10-fold safety factor for children, which is a rarity for them. Let’s hope this is the start of a positive trend.”

 

Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada said:

 

“This is an important first decision in addressing the danger of forever chemicals.  It will be important to see Health Canada’s PMRA work with Environment and Climate Change Canada in forging an all-of-government assault on forever chemicals whether in agriculture, manufacturing and other sectors.”

 

Cassie Barker, Senior Program Manager for Toxics at Environmental Defence, said:

 

“This is a win for reducing PFAS in our environment and our food. ‘PFASticides’ should not be sprayed on Canadian crops. The government needs to step up and protect us from these toxic forever chemicals and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency needs to join a whole-of-government push to get PFAS off the market. Our health and safety depend on it.”

 

Dr. Melissa Lem, Board President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) said:

 

“As a physician, I commend Health Canada for cancelling the registration of the PFAS “forever chemical” containing pesticide flufenacet. When the government makes decisions taking human health and environmental harms into account—even in the face of industry pressure to do otherwise—it fulfills its responsibilities to the public interest. Continuing action to remove other PFAS-containing pesticides from the market will help prevent adverse health outcomes and premature death, minimize disease and illness, promote environmental justice, and save money.”

 

Meg Sears, Chair, Prevent Cancer Now stated:

 

“Let’s applaud one hazardous pesticide being phased out, in three years, but also recognize that this is a drop in the bucket. We asked the PMRA how many pesticides have fluorine atoms, so they may trelease TFA, and they couldn’t tell us. (They estimated 86, fluorinated pesticides, but omitted tiafenacil among others. Appallingly, they claimed to have no database of chemical structures.) Canada doesn’t recognize or protect against cumulative effects of the many “look alike” redundant chemistries, let alone of the hundreds of other pesticides in use. As cancers mount in younger Canadians, pesticides have completely escaped “management.” The rational solution is to shift ambition, to use the least-toxic, effective strategies, starting with organic practices.”

 

Chris Ramsaroop, Justice for Migrant Workers 

 

“Agricultural workers continue to face a myriad of occupational hazards associated with dangerous and deadly herbicides, pesticides, and chemicals. It is imperative that proactive measures are taken to address concerns raised by both workers and advocates relating to the harmful side effects of herbicides such as flufenacet. As an industry built and propped up by precarious labour, additional measures are needed so workers can exert their rights at work without fear of reprisals and retribution. We strive for workplaces where there is an end to all harmful conditions workers endure while putting food on our table.”

 

Background:

 

• Health Canada is responsible for pesticide regulation in Canada through the PMRA.
• In 2021, the PMRA re-evaluation proposed cancelling flufenacet’s registration in Canada due to significant health risks from food and drinking water. Despite mounting pressure from industry to back down on this decision, Health Canada has now cancelled the registration of flufenacet.
• Earlier this year, Environment and Climate Change Canada published its updated draft report on PFAS, which identified TFA as an important forever chemical which required action. Numerous other pesticides still in use in Canada degrade into TFA.

 

Source:

 

Statement: Environmental, worker, and health groups welcome cancelling of dangerous pesticide