[All] Lake Erie Source Water Protection Committee : re ATRAZINE

Wed Nov 16 15:07:09 EST 2011

Hi Lulu,

Thank you for your action here (and on so many other environmental  
concerns).  We should also  learn what are  the atrazine levels  
throughout the GRW and in our drinking water, and what are effective  
dw treatments methods. Mannheim dw treatment plant is our most  
advanced dw treatment process but their ozone and charcoal water  
treatment processes (which I successfully advocated for) are only for  
aesthetic purposes and not health purposes (which they could have been  
if ... ). I have a phone call to the Director of Water Services, Nancy  
Kodousck, I suggest you give a call to Dr. Keith Solomon who heads the  
Canadian Centre for Toxicology @UofG. You'll probably find that he is  
a smooth-talking apologist for the status quo -- so don't hesitate to  
be appropriately tough with him.  A caution: be careful with what you  
tell him as he might try to undermine your efforts.

I assume that GREN has no corporate infiltrators! Sorry, but   
especially as the Occupy Movement intensifies, one can't be too  
careful as we try to sustainablize corporate activity.

Regards,
Robert

PS: This is very personal because New Dundee only chlorinates (make  
some toxins worse) it's 'Alder Lake'- connected deep wells. And Alder  
Creek flows through toxic chemical agriculture land. And I am; having  
a minor problem (could develop into ...)  with my prostate!

On 16-Nov-11, at 11:34 AM, Louisette Lanteigne wrote:

> Hon. Ministers, please review the following information regarding  
> the use of the broad leaf pesticide Atrazine in the Grand River  
> Watershed, a water supply that provides for over 1 million people. I  
> would like to see a study initiated to see if the elevated breast  
> and prostate cancers along the Grand River are linked to the use of  
> this particular chemical.
>
> Dear Mr. Schultz
> Please forward this to the Lake Erie Source Water Protection  
> Committee on my behalf please.
>
> Thank you
>
> Louisette Lanteigne
> 700 Star Flower Ave.
> Waterloo Ont.
> N2V 2L2
> ________________________________
>
> Dear Source Water Protection Committee members
>
> Atrazine is the largest pesticide being used over the Grand River  
> Watershed over corn and soya crops and it was already banned in the  
> UK for it's endocrine disrupting properties. It's linked to breast  
> and prostate cancers as well. These two cancers exist all along  
> communities along the Grand RIver beyond provincial averages as I  
> observed by reviewing the annual reports by public health  
> departments. I am concerned about intensified farming related to  
> extended growing seasons associated with Climate Change and how  
> additional loadings of Atrazine could impact our watershed well,  
> river water quality and human health. We need to investigate the  
> breast and prostate cancers to see if affected areas co-relate to  
> either direct exposure to Atrazine use or to atrazine in municipal  
> water supplies and secure 12 month seasonal analysis to monitor for  
> delta levels.
>
> Currently all pesticides used, sold or imported into Canada are  
> regulated by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) of Health  
> Canada. In 2004 they did tests in Waterloo Region to re-evaluate the  
> safety of  Atrazine. The  Information provided by the EPA played a  
> key roll in this re-evaluation and The Pest Management Regulatory  
> Agency of Health Canada has concluded that "all the uses of Atrazine  
> do not entail an unacceptable risk to human health".
>
>  What this study failed to mention is fact that Atrazine is banned  
> by the European Union. It is banned in France, Denmark, Germany,  
> Norway and Sweden because it has proven endocrine-disrupting  
> properties and it has toxic impacts on wildlife in existing water  
> systems in concentrations as low as 2.16 ppb.
>
> http://www.hawkeshealth.net/community/showthread.php?t=3609&page=1
>
> This chemical alters the sex of frogs. This fact has been proven  
> independently in labs in Japan, Canada and the US. It is linked to  
> breast cancer and prostate cancer. These findings are supported by  
> research conducted by the World Health Organization, Berkley  
> University and several international research facilities.
>
> In spite of the related health risks, the EPA still chose not to  
> limit the use of atrazine. Ron Kendall, the chairman of EPA’s  
> scientific advisory panel is a former employee of Syngenta, the  
> manufacturer of Atrazine. In fact he ran the lab that did all of  
> Syngenta's work.
>
> Syngata has a problem right now with men experiencing high levels of  
> prostate cancers in their factory in Louisiana.
>
>  The US Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) has filed a lawsuit  
> in the Federal Court in Washington, D.C. on February 17, 2005 citing  
> that the US EPA has illegally negotiated secret agreements with  
> industry lobbyists over pesticide regulations concerning Atrazine  
> and Dichlorvos.
>
> In Canada, Jay Bradshaw, the president of Syngenta Canada sits on  
> the steering committee for Health Canada's Pest Management  
> Regulatory Agency in Guelph.
>
> A Breast Cancer forum in Cambridge Ontario used deformed frogs found  
> in Laurel Creek in Waterloo to illustrate how polluted water can  
> result in abnormal growth of cells. Currently the GRCA reports that  
> male fish are currently developing female physical traits in the  
> Grand River. These factors may be linked to Atrazine.
>
> Dr. Brian Dixon an immunologist at U of Waterloo, has done some  
> research with pesticides including a study on DDT and malathion in  
> Point Pelee. He studied frogs and found that very low doses of  
> pesticides suppress the immune system, leading to health issues. He  
> wanted to do more work on atrazine but couldn't get the funding.  
> Perhaps with assistance via the GRCA or other
> water related agency, we can help fund his research.
>
> In Waterloo Region in 1998, 20,451 kg of triazine herbicides were  
> used on all crops. Atrazine was the most highly used triatizine  
> applied. The concentrations that caused frog deformaties were low  
> enough to be considered safe for drinking water comsumption based on  
> current EPA standards.
>
> I believe Canada should make the effort to include international  
> scientific studies from several independent bodies to formulate our  
> test results beyond just the EPA scope otherwise we may compromise  
> public health and our ecology.
>
> The leading researcher on the issue is Tyrone Haynes. He states:   
> “Atrazine increases aromatase and/or estrogen production in zebra  
> fish, goldfish, caimans, alligators, turtles, quail and rats,” Hayes  
> points out. "So this is not just a frog problem.”
>
> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sex-changing-weed-killer
>
> Currently the EPA is looking for public information to consider a  
> ban the chemical in the US:  http://www.awwa.org/publications/breakingnewsdetail.cfm?itemnumber=57543
>
> It is my hope that we can prohibit the use of Atrazine over top  
> source areas and adjacent to the Grand River as part of the Source  
> Water Protection Act. Commercial alternatives exist.
>
> Thank you kindly for your time
>
> Lousiette Lanteigne
> 700 Star Flower Ave.
> Waterloo Ontario
> N2V 2L2
>
>
>
>
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> All at gren.ca
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