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The following is an opinion piece from the New Brunswick Lung Association:

The New Brunswick Lung Association congratulates Chris Collins, the MLA for Moncton East, for the leadership he has shown in advocating a provincial ban, similar to that of Ontario, on the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes in New Brunswick.

Following the example of Quebec, and raising the bar with even more stringent regulations, Ontario has broken ground for all Canadians to choose to understand and work with nature to manage our green spaces.

New Brunswick Lung Association president and CEO Kenneth Maybee stated, "New Brunswick citizens who have long been advocating the use of sustainable turf and home-garden care can take heart from this and the fact that our departments of health, environment, agriculture and local government are now collaborating to protect the health and environment of future generations.

"It is important for all New Brunswickers to realize why the use of pesticides approved by Health Canada is an issue," added Maybee. "Mounting evidence from population health, or epidemiological studies indicate that although we do not yet understand the physiological mechanism by which negative health effects occur, there are enough links to herbicide, fungicide and insecticide use to be concerned."

Indeed, the members of the Canadian Medical Association are concerned enough about pesticides that in September 2007 they confirmed three resolutions asking the government to refrain from the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes, to educate the public about risks associated with and alternatives to their use, and to use the precautionary approach when determining their impact.

"Designed to kill more primitive forms of life, the use of pesticides for non-essential purposes around home green spaces poses unnecessary risk to children," said Maybee. "Babies and young children are particularly vulnerable to environmental contaminants as, relative to their body size, they breathe, drink and eat more than adults. They also behave differently as they put objects, including their hands, into their mouths. In addition, their neurological and immune systems, brain, lungs and reproductive systems are still developing, in the case of the latter three, until adulthood."

Although the consequences of using pesticides as per label directions may not be immediately lethal to humans, there have been found consistent links to cancer, reproductive problems and neurological diseases, among others. This is according to a comprehensive review of the recent research into the effects of pesticides on human health completed recently by the Ontario College of Family Physicians.

If long-term effects on humans, difficult as they are to measure, are not enough for us to go on, Environment Canada tells us that our use of pesticides on our lawn and gardens are partially responsible for the decline in pollinator populations.

"Even at low levels," the agency stated, "pesticides affect longevity, memory, navigation and foraging abilities of the honeybee."

This does not auger well for our supply of the many fruits and vegetables that depend on pollination.

"A province-wide ban on the use of pesticides for non-essential, or cosmetic reasons will go a long way to helping New Brunswickers preserve the long-term health of our species and that of the environment that supports us," said Maybee. "It will force us to use nature's way of keeping populations in balance through diversity and the use of native species. This provides other benefits such as improved air quality, reduction of climate-change gasses and conservation of water. It will level the playing field for those in the business of tending our green spaces and enable the companies that use best practices of lawn and garden care to thrive."

Remember, "When you can't breathe, nothing else matters."