Pesticides and Health Concerns: What is all the confusion about? - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Pesticides and Health Concerns: What is all the confusion about?

Carol Burns, MPH, PhD The Dow Chemical Company

Pesticides and Cancer

No pesticide registered in Canada is classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer

 or by Health Canada’s PMRA  or by US EPA  or by World Health Organization

Pesticides and Children

 Pesticides are tools, not toys.  Health Canada knows this and makes

manufacturers study all possible concerns and exposure scenarios.

 “There is little proof that exposure to pest-

control products at levels commonly used at home pose a risk to the fetus.” March of Dimes

 Epidemiologists study moms, babies, and

children looking for links to disease.

Epidemiology – what?

 Think “Epidemic” and “Study”  Compare groups by exposure  Compare groups by disease

Does “it” cause disease?

 We say that

 asbestos causes lung cancer.  a high fat diet is associated with obesity.  poor prenatal care is linked to low birth

weight.

Why are results confusing?

 Some people are exposed to “it” and

don’t have disease.

 Maybe exposure is very low  Maybe some have good genes  Maybe there are protective exposures

 Some people are NOT exposed to “it”

and have disease.

 Most diseases have multiple causes

OCFP review

 Ontario College of Family Physicians

review is available online, not in a journal

 Treats all pesticides alike

 Like comparing aspirin to chemotherapy

 Excluded studies of no or decreased risk  Treats all positive studies alike

 Did not discuss strengths and weaknesses

What should I know?

 Best science is specific science.

 Specific to a single pesticide  Specific to a single disease  Accounts for complex human behaviors

 Science needs to be repeated.

 Experts look for the “weight of evidence”  Not all studies are the same quality

Bottom Line

 Health Canada’s PMRA assess and

continues to assess all pesticides for health and environmental concerns.

 All pesticide’s must by law meet the

standard of a “reasonable certainty of no harm”.

 Groups will continue to misuse science

 Think about the source  Check for balance in reporting