The city government in Toronto is considering restrictions on pesticide applications.
The proposed reductions are: 60 percent reduction for overall use, including golf courses and greenhouses, 90 percent reduction on residential properties by the landscape and horticultural industries, 90 percent reduction in applications by homeowners and 100 percent reduction on the ground of schools, daycare centers, nursing homes and hospitals.
This follows a ruling by the Canadian Supreme Court that upheld a law in a suburb of Montreal that forbids the application of cosmetic herbicides.
Similarly, two U.S. states are looking at legislations that will further reduce available pesticides. Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a ban on ten chemicals and pesticides, including organophosphate pesticides, 2,4-D, perchloroethylene, formaldehyde, lead and five others. If the bill is passed the production, sale and use of these compounds will be gradually phased out and eventually banned.
Environmental groups in New York are lobbying lawmakers to ban aesthetic use of pesticides, such as lawn and tree care. A recently released report showed that 20 percent of pesticides applied in the state are for agricultural purposes. The majority of pesticides applied in New York are used for commercial applications, such as lawn care or indoor pest control (household pesticide use is exempted from reporting requirements).
(Sources: ChemicallySpeaking, University of Florida Extension, January 2003; Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 31, Nos. 5, 16 and 13)