Up north, under the guise of the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" "a wide-ranging plan to streamline regulatory and security protocols across North America," The Conservative government of Steven Harper continues to downgrade Canadian standards and sovereignty in favor of Wall Street.
The story illustrates important points for Americans too. For instance, that in many cases, US standards are far far weaker than in most developed countries. In some cases, even weaker than 'developing' countries.
Pesticides are implicated in birth defects of genitalia, cancers, and as a cause of mental illnesses. And studies increasingly show that the damage is done at lower exposure levels than previously imagined possible.
The full story is here. Or here
The article is well worth a read, if you can take the time to go there. If not, a little more from that page:
The U.S. allows 50 times more vinclozolin on cherries as the E.U., and 100 times as much lindane on pineapples.
Canada fared no better: For permethrin on leaf lettuce and spinach, the Canadian and U.S. limit was 400 times higher than in Europe, and the Canadian cap on methoxychlor was 1,400 times the European limit.
Both countries also allow pesticides that have been banned not only in Europe but also in some developing countries, Boyd noted.
Methamidophos, for example, is permitted in Canada but banned in Indonesia and other developing nations, he found.