Banning Cosmetic Pesticides: One Facet of Coexisting With Them
This is the pesticide capital of Ontario. However, as I write this the provincial government is set to announce a ban on cosmetic pesticide use in this province. Farmers will be exempt, but everybody else will have to let those dandelions grow. Either that, or get out there with a hoe and dig them out yourselves.
It’s probably not a bad thing, but the agricultural community will surely grow nervous over it. Pesticides for the most part are an integral part of agricultural technology, which keeps food costs down. Without them, agricultural productivity would plummet and food would easily quadruple in price. However, banning pesticide use for cosmetic purposes is a whole different animal. Banning it all together will limit pesticide exposure to an increasingly urban population.
I’m licensed to handle pesticides. I’ve been that way for years now. In the beginning I looked at it as an intrusion of my privacy. For instance why did I have to take a safety course in order to handle pesticides? That was the requirement, which I’ve grudgingly fulfilled every five years. Needless to say, I must admit I was wrong. Getting educated and licensed to handle pesticides reduced their abuse on the farm and ultimately will save lives. The Liberal move to ban them all together in more urban environments will do the same thing.
In isolation, pesticides are bad. Yes, that’s me saying this, someone who makes money using them to produce Canada’s food. It’s a double-edged sword. I know pesticides are good for me, but on the other hand increasingly I’ve wondered about long-term health effects. I’ve made jokes with others through the years, that’s I’m a toxic waste dump on two legs. In other words after 35 years working with pesticides on the farm, I’ve often wondered if I glow in the dark.
For instance as I write this I’ve probably got vestiges of pesticide residue oozing into this column. I spent the day spraying wheat with glyphosate. Glyphosate kills wheat. I’m doing it because the field was severely damaged through the winter. However, as careful as I try to be in my middle age, I know I still get some of it on me. It is what it is.
Nonetheless, its one thing for me a professional working in the field and our schoolchildren being inadvertently exposed in parks or schoolyards. The Liberal move to ban its cosmetic use will surely bring some semblance of order to the mish mash of municipal bylaws which dot the province.
Now back to us being the pesticide capital of Ontario. I say this because I’ve often wondered about the unseen health effects of the pesticides used in southwestern Ontario. For instance our agricultural community uses tremendous amounts of agricultural pesticides. At times when tomatoes are being sprayed I can smell the pesticide wafting for the moment through the country air. Ditto for many other agricultural applications in southwestern Ontario.
The question I have is what’s it doing to us? It’s true all of our agricultural chemicals are stringently tested for proper application rates balancing efficacy with human health concerns. However, it’s pretty obvious to me even with a lifetime mixing up pesticide solutions there is an overall health effect, which cannot necessarily be measured. In fact I think it might be decades into the future before society will be able to find out if and how some of this pesticide exposure affects our lives.
The cosmetic pesticide ban eliminates any liability against any of these future health risks. However, there will be economic fallout. Keeping lawns sparkling didn’t just happen. There are a plethora of lawn services dotting this province and pesticides have been part of the equation. I don’t think everybody grabbing a hoe and taking those weeds out by hand will counter the employment effects. What I can see in the future are a lot more weeds and a society, which will just have to get used to it.
It would seem like an easy trade off. We’ll see a few weeds, maybe even a lot of weeds. However, maybe at the end of the day we’ll lead healthier lives. I’m sure there will be some that would like to go a lot farther and move for a ban on pesticides on our food. With food coming into Canada from almost anywhere now, that is totally impractical.
Still, a pesticide, is a pesticide, is a pesticide. They are bad. Regrettably though, they are a fact of life in modern society. Coexisting safely with them should be our ultimate goal.