About Us - Advocacy
Position Statement February, 2010
Nova Scotia Non-Essential Lawn Care Pesticides
Better Safe Than Sorry
The Nova Scotia College of Family Physicians supports and advocates for clear regulations and legislation to protect the public from those products whose chemical components do not meet evidence based standards. As Family Physicians, our role is to give our patients the best possible advice for their health and safety based on the most accurate information we have at any given moment.
With respect to pesticides which are potentially dangerous to our patients, we must be responsible and pay attention therefore to the advice of those more expert than us, those in the front lines of the bench research and those who are developing evidence based recommendations. As Family Physicians we cannot in good conscience recommend the ongoing use of chemicals that may compromise the health of our patients. We place our trust in research experts who inform all of us which chemicals/products are safe and which are not. We will advise our patients to not use or be in contact with any that do not meet the standards developed on the basis of the best research available today.
Importantly, we advocate for and encourage support for further research to study the chemicals used in pesticides so we can gain proof of which ones are safe and which are not. Any found uncertain regarding safety should not be used, while those proven safe could be used in products released to the market.
Warmest regards,
Cathie W. Carroll
Cathie W. Carroll, Executive Director
Nova Scotia College of Family Physicians