Background photo: Princess Royal Island on Canada’s northern Pacific Coast (Simon Jackson). Inset photo: fresh summer strawberries from Richmond, BC (WC files).
Doing It Yourself
a citizen’s primer on protecting you, your family and the environment
Nearly 30,000 species going extinct per year.(1) Cancer rates increasing five-fold in just three generations.(2)Tens of thousands of synthetic chemicals in our water, air and food supply, most of them never evaluated for their impacts on human and environmental health.(3)
In spring 2005, the Wilderness Committee and the Labour Environmental Alliance Society (LEAS) collaborated on the first edition of Turning the Tide. The newspaper examined the links between three of the most compelling but complex issues of our time: accelerating loss of natural biodiversity, epidemic levels of serious illnesses such as cancer, and the pervasiveness of products containing toxic chemicals in our homes, communities and workplaces. In examining those linkages, we made the case that the increase in under-regulated toxic chemicals in common use in Canada was at least in part to blame for rapidly detioriating health, both in humans and the environment. You can find the 2005 first edition of Turning the Tide online at www.wildernesscommittee.org/campaigns/species/marine/orca.
Glossary of Terms
Bio-accumulation
The general term for the accumulation of toxic substances, such as pesticides, in organisms.
Carcinogen
A toxic substance that can cause cancer.
Endocrine Disruptor
A synthetic chemical that mimics or blocks hormones and disrupts the body’s normal functions
including development.
Electronic Waste (or E-waste)
Discarded computers, cell phones and other electronic equipment.
Persistent Toxins
Toxins, such as mercury or PBDEs, that don’t break down readily in the environment.
Reproductive Toxin
A toxic substance that negatively affects reproductive capacity or fetal and child development.
Toxin
In this newspaper, the term relates solely to chemical toxins, defined as a chemical or mixture
that causes death, disease, or birth defects in organisms that ingest or absorb them.
We were astounded by the response that we received. City councils passed motions supporting national action on toxins. A Member of Parliament (MP) introduced a private member’s motion calling for a ban on one of the most persistent toxins, PBDEs (see story inside). Schools asked for so many class sets we couldn’t ship them fast enough. Tens of thousands of citizens from across Canada called, emailed, petitioned or wrote their MPs in support of stronger laws regulating toxins. They also wrote to the Wilderness Committee and LEAS, asking what more they could do to protect themselves, their families and the environment from toxic pollution. Those requests prompted this 2006 updated edition.
Inside, you will find information on the best practices from around the world in toxins-related public policy, as well as the best options available to you in the community you live in. Unfortunately, in many cases these are not the same thing. Most of the key pieces of public policy that are protecting citizens and the environment from toxins in other countries, are voluntary, inconsistent across provinces or non-existent in Canada.
But the very fact that other jurisdictions are doing so much better than Canada provides a blueprint for concrete actions we can take. The need has never been greater — even in the year since we published the first edition, evidence continues to mount that toxic chemicals are affecting our health and reaching dangerous levels in wildlife even in some of the most remote parts of our country.c Please take the time to read this newspaper and share it with friends and family. Most importantly, take action. Together we can turn the tide on toxic pollution.
