Dear (council member's name),

I am a proud resident of Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield, and I believe that safeguarding the health of our community is our responsibility. I hope you will agree that a by-law restricting the cosmetic use of pesticides in our township would be a powerful legacy for our children and grandchildren.

Pesticides are designed to poison other organisms and by their very nature, have the potential to affect human health. Children, pregnant women and the elderly are especially vulnerable, and evidence of the adverse health effects is growing.

Cosmetic Pesticides Are Unsafe:

• Scientific studies reveal links between pesticide exposure and higher risk of leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, soft tissue sarcomas and prostate cancer.
• Children are particularly susceptible to harm from pesticides, both in-utero and during childhood.
• Pesticides may cause birth defects, developmental delays, behavioural disorders, motor dysfunction, nervous system disruption and immunotoxicity.
• For example, research in Quebec has shown that fetuses with higher exposures to pesticides have an increased risk of acute lymphocytic leukemia as young children.
• Children have greater exposure to pesticides due to increased food and water consumption/kg body weight compared to adults, as well as higher respiratory rates, and closer proximity to the ground and floor (residues tracked into a home can persist for months longer than they would outside).
• Studies have found cosmetic pesticides to contaminate urban watersheds – the source of drinking water and key to ecological sustainability.
• The issue of cumulative exposure is not yet being addressed when pesticides are evaluated in Canada. Further, the scientific ability to do so is highly complex, controversial and only just being developed. Hence, the “safe” level of a pesticide continues to be decided based on the toxic effects of that pesticide alone. There are dozens of pesticide residues in Canadian water and food sources, many of the same pesticide class, which can have additive and multiplicative effects. The additional exposure from lawn and garden applications has not been quantified.

A by-law for our township is inevitable. Thousands of communities across Canada have already enacted by-laws protecting their residents from harmful chemicals (for a complete list, please see http://www.flora.org/healthyottawa/BylawList.pdf).

I hope you will agree that to enact legislation now would send a strong message: Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield township council is forward-thinking and will not be left behind in the fight to protect our safety, and the health of our environment!

Thank-you for your time.

Sincerely,

(your name)