tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395477629258665306.post1360469173339608339..comments2023-10-04T06:24:03.734-04:00Comments on Education and Its Discontents - Observations from A Retired High School Teacher: Yet Another Reminder About the Dangers of Unfettered CapitalismLornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395477629258665306.post-53261948361232176802008-10-23T11:57:00.000-04:002008-10-23T11:57:00.000-04:00Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency ...Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), which recently pronounced herbicide 2,4-D safe, is in effect a puppet of the chemical industry. The agency approves pesticides almost exclusively on the basis of scientific data provided by the industry.<BR/><BR/>The PMRA has no labs of its own and depends, for product evaluations, on industry approved toxicological research in industry sponsored and <BR/>approved labs. Vital but inconvenient data are routinely withheld from the PMRA by the industry, e.g. data pertaining to birth defects and <BR/>immune disruption as well as the presence of routine contaminants generated by the process in the reactor.<BR/><BR/>PMRA has only one epidemiologist on staff and each independently submitted, non-industry epidemiological study is examined by this agency <BR/>individually, without correlating data and without even compiling a basic bibliography (as told to this writer by prominent Ottawa <BR/>biochemist Dr. Meg Sears, associated with the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario).<BR/><BR/>The issue here is whether potentially highly toxic chemicals should be considered "innocent" until proven "guilty", as demanded by the <BR/>industry, especially when the level of proof required by the industry is completely unrealistic and unattainable.<BR/><BR/>Basic, elementary decency dictates that in a civilized, democratic society public health should come before profit. After all we are not at war and our children should not be exposed to what amounts to "chemical warfare in peacetime." When the application of pesticides is purely <BR/>cosmetic and largely unnecessary, there is absolutely no justification to use these synthetic chemicals, known to be routinely contaminated by a toxic dioxin, the serious health effects of which are passed even to <BR/>future generations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395477629258665306.post-73527445847948614772008-10-23T10:47:00.000-04:002008-10-23T10:47:00.000-04:00What’s dis-heartening about this is the lack of ap...What’s dis-heartening about this is the lack of appreciation for the thorough analysis by the Canadian Government (Health Canada) finding that 2,4-D may be used safely. The Agency reviewed all available data to arrive at this conclusion after many years of evaluation. The Provincial Government noted this on-going evaluation in their reasoning to ban 2,4-D. When the Agency evaluation was concluded, Quebec declined to follow-through with their process. As one of my childhood heroes used to say, “Quebec speak with forked-tongue”.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com