This publication is West Coast Environmental Law's comment on the Ministry of Environment’s Cosmetic Use of Pesticides in British Columbia – Consultation Paper (the “Paper”). We are pleased to see that the province is entertaining the possibility of restricting the unnecessary use of cosmetic pesticides.
Summary of Submissions
We strongly support prohibiting the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes in British Columbia. As we have discussed in our publication, Pesticides and Your Health, there are very real health threats associated with pesticides, and the use of pesticides for purely cosmetic purposes cannot easily be justified. We are proud to be one of the 18 health and environmental groups which called for a province-wide ban on lawn and garden pesticides. These submissions further elaborate on our support for a ban, and explain how such a ban relates to your stated objectives including:
- Protecting human health, including the right of the public to control what enters their bodies;
- Adopting a precautionary, science-based approach aimed at avoiding unnecessary risk and uncertainty;
- Supporting the shifts in culture and the reduction in unnecessary pesticide use contemplated by integrated pest management; and
- Being simple and efficient to implement and enforce.
We note that the Paper, while open to the possibility of a ban, also examines options to regulate, without banning, cosmetic pesticide use.