Doctors, nurses urge Ontario to ban neonicotinoids

The pressure is growing on the Ontario government over neonicotinoids, the agricultural pesticide linked to the deaths of bee colonies, with doctors and nurses urging the province to ban the chemicals.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and the Registered Nurses of Ontario havea meeting planned with Ontario environment minister Glen Murray later this year at which they planto urge a ban, says Gideon Forman, executive director of CAPE.

• Ont. watchdog wants province to act on pesticides linked to bee deaths
• More than half of Ontario bees died during harsh winter
• Ontario looking to restrict use of bee-killing pesticides

We will talk with about the science suggesting these chemicals are hurting bees. We are a science-basedorganization, Forman told CBC News.

Ahead of that meeting CAPE and the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario are placing advertisements on Toronto transit to raise awareness of the issue of neonics, which are used to treat corn, canola and other crops.

The ads show a young boy gazing at a dead bee with the message Doctors and nurses say neonic pesticides hurt our bees and us.

We want to get out the message that health professionals are concerned about the issue, Forman said. Its not just environmental organizations.

Ontarios environmental commission Gord Miller recommended last month that Ontario act on its own to ban the use of the agricultural pesticides, saying there is ample science to support the suggestion that neonics are responsible for the collapse of bee colonies.

Ontario has said it is waiting for the results of a federal study this year about the effects of three of the pesticides on bee colonies, but Miller has recommended acting even if the federal government doesnt. The actual banning of neonicotinoids would be the responsibility of Health Canada, but Ontario can legislate the use of chemicals in agriculture.

DorisGrinspun, CEO of theRNO, is urging Ontario to act quickly, saying neonics are a matter of public health.

It has a direct and indirect relation to health, Grinspun told CBC News.

"What I know is its urgent to follow the precautionary principle especially with matters that threaten our environment that affectour health and life."

She said neonicotinoids go well beyond the corn and soybean fieldsto disrupt other ecological systems.

The issue with theneonicpesticides is that they are absorbed and incorporated into every part of the plant, from leaves and stems to seed, pollen and nectar. They are very persistent, they are highly water soluble, so they can contaminate ground and surface water and can persist in aquatic environments for a very long time," Grinspunsaid.

Forman said he believes there is both public support for the banning of neonics and a political climate sympathetic to environmental issues in Ontario.

CAPE and the RNO were active in campaigning to get lawn pesticides banned several years ago and found a receptive government in Ontario.

Key role of pollinators

The doctors group began to be interested in the issue of neonics just over a year ago, with news of widespread bee deaths in Ontario, Forman said.

Really were very concerned because science from around the world is showing that these neonics are a great threat to pollinators, including bees and that means that they are threatening, implicitly our food supply, Forman said.

There is new science showing the chemicals, which are neurotoxins, may be affecting bats, birds and worms, as well as bees.

He said if the doctors and nurses make an impact with their campaign in Ontario, they plan to take it to other provinces.

That campaign likely wont involve advertising, because of the high cost of ads. Ontario Nature and the David Suzuki Foundaton contributed to money to the TTC ad campaign.

Grinspunsaid she expects industry will push back, but will eventually adapt to grow crops without neonics.

"The companies will say that the world is coming to an end," she said.

"I am convinced that an industry as knowledgable as this will have something in stock that is natural to do the same job as neonics."