 | ||
|
 | ||
City Plan To Spray Trees Threatens Human Health and EnvironmentResource Conservation Manitoba News Release: Winnipeg, August 10, 2009 City Plan To Spray Trees Threatens Human Health and Environment The City of Winnipeg plans to begin spraying neighbourhood and riverbank elm trees Monday morning with a dangerous pesticide, Chlorpyrifos, as part of a control program for Dutch Elm Disease. The spray program is set to begin Monday morning targeting select Winnipeg neighbourhoods, as well as along the banks of the Seine and LaSalle Rivers. Resource Conservation Manitoba is concerned the spraying could impact human health and the environment. Chlorpyros is a pesticide that attacks an enzyme responsible for transmitting information in the beetle's nervous system, thus killing insect. The enzyme is common to all vertebrates, including humans. This raises the possibility that humans, pets and wildlife could be affected if they are exposed to the product. "Certainly protecting our elm forest in Winnipeg is important. However, there is still only a limited understanding of the long term effects of this product on human populations. I am concerned that not enough attention has been given to alternative methods of pest control." said Josh Brandon, Living Green, Living Well Coordinator with Resource Conservation Manitoba. "At the very least, the City should be allowing residents to register for buffer zones, as it does for its other pesticide spray programs." As well as being a threat to human health, the chemical is especially dangerous to aquatic organisms. The pesticide manufacturer, Agrium Advanced Technologies, explicitly warns on product label: This product is toxic to birds and wildlife, and extremely toxic to fish and aquatic organisms. Do not apply directly to water. Drift and run-off from treated areas may be hazardous to aquatic organisms in adjacent aquatic sites. Resource Conservation Manitoba asks the City to refrain from spraying riverbanks, recognizing the certainty of run off into City waterways. Also, Resource Conservation Manitoba urges that City policies on pesticides reflect a commitment to ecological sustainability and the precautionary principle. -30- Contact: Josh Brandon, Living Green, Living Well Coordinator, (204) 925-3771 More information:
| ||
|
