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Reprinted from the Windsor Star
Written by Sarah Schmidt
Everyday products sold
in Canada -- from lipstick to laundry
detergent -- would be forced to carry warning labels listing toxic ingredients
as hazardous under a private member's bill backed by consumer
groups.
Bolstered
by the environmental law group Toxic Free Canada and the Quebec consumer group
Options Consommateur, Peter Julian of the New Democrats tabled legislation
Thursday requiring that all products sold in Canada have clear warning labels
specifying their toxic substances.
Hazard
labelling legislation has already been adopted in the European Union and the
State of California.Consumers
in Europe and consumers in California have the right to know. We're
saying that Canadians need that right to know," said Julian, who represents the
B.C. riding of Burnaby-New Westminster.
In
Canada, the cosmetics industry must
list all ingredients in their products, but there is no provision in legislation
for the identification through hazard labelling of any toxic
ingredients.Personal
care products, in particular, contain numerous chemicals and some are known
carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, reproductive toxins or immune toxicants. They
include lead acetate, ammonium persulfate, phthalates and
dimethylamine.
"You
shouldn't have to compare notes from five different sources to figure out what
kind of toxic product you're purchasing. The right to know is not the right to
do a lot of research so you can eventually find out the health concerns around
that product," said Julian.
Hazard
labelling would use distinct symbols or letters for each hazard class, based on
scientific evidence compiled by government agencies. For example, all
ingredients designated as carcinogens labelled "C" and reproductive toxicants
labelled "R."
This would
be in addition to current hazard labelling that indicates corrosive, flammable
or explosive ingredients. Mae
Burrows, executive director of Toxic Free Canada, came to Ottawa Thursday to lobby
for the new bill. The Vancouver-based member of Health Canada's expert
panel on international labelling rules for chemicals has been fighting for
right-to-know legislation for eight years.
"As a
parent, you do what you can do to protect your children in any way you
can."
Michel
Arnold, head of Options Consommateur, was also on hand to promote the bill. They
brought a sampling of products containing toxic ingredients that would be
affected by the legislation, including cleaning agents, mothballs, weed control
products, perfume and hair gel.
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