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economist suntribune thursday may 9 2002 stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 opinion telephone 905 2942200 416 7987624 fax 905 2941538 email newsroomeconsuncom publisher ian proiidfoot editor in chief debora kelly director of advertising debra weller editor jim mason production manager pam nichols distribution manager barry black electronic communications manager john futhey classified manager ann campbell retail sales manager stephen mathieu inside sales manager staceyallen business manager robert lazurko office manager vivian oneil editorial perfect weedfree lawn not so important today people have begun the ritual of spraying toxic chemicals on lawns parks and gardens in a bid to eliminate the undesirable insects and weeds that are the bane of the suburban ideal yet the blind pursuit of weedfree perfectly manicured communities is no longer occur ring without question in recent years the number of residents calling for an end to the use of chemicals for cosmetic reasons has skyrocketed and community leaders across the country are responding buoyed in part by last years supreme court ruling allowing hudson que to ban pesticides on residential lawns most of york regions municipalities have already dramatically reduced pesticide use newmarket aurora and whitchurch- stouffville have cut back pesticide use youve likely noticed dandelions in the parks on the heels of this the regions own pesti cide reduction task force is urging the adoption of guidelines sanctioning the restriction in the nonessential use of pesticide on its lands the guidelines stress preventive measures and the use of reduced risk products when chemical control treatments are necessary as well the region intends to continue its public awareness campaign to encourage pri vate property owners to refrain from using pesticides the guidelines fall far short of a ban similar to the one in hudson that even forbade the use of pesticides on private property but the region states it does not have the legal ability to enforce a ban or restriction through a bylaw meanwhile antipesticide advocates such as york regions environmental alliance will continue their campaign to have pesticides such as 24d banned in municipal bylaws they firmly believe pesticides are danger ous and there is a growing body of evidence linking pesticides to health problems a study by the ontario college of family physicians found pesticides posed an undeni able risk to canadian children evidence more and more people are choos ing not to take the risk these chemicals pose to us and our ecosystems is seen in loblaws recent announcement it will no longer sell products containing pesticides by 2003 people have realized the obsession for the perfect lawn in the big scheme of things is meaningless a few dandelions on the lawn may not be so bad after all letters to the editor growing body of evidence suggests pesticide use harmful re councillor wants truth told about pes ticides economist sun may 2 the truth is that herbicides insecticides and fungicides collectively known as pesticides often used to kill dandelions and crabgrass can harm the environment and human health too pesticides dont stay on your lawns and gardens when it rains they are washed off and can end up in groundwater rivers and in lake ontario our drinking water source last spring the house of commons envi ronment and sustainable development com mittee recommended a freeze on nonessen tial pesticides naming water pollution as an important issue a year of testimony convinced the com mittee pesticides harm the environment and wildlife and threaten our health particularly that of our children and pets toronto public health released a report called lawn and garden pesticides a review of human exposure and health effects research the report focuses on research into the health effects of the seven most common ly used lawn and garden pesticides in canada these include herbicides 24d meco- prop dicamba and 4-chloro-2-methylphe- noxyacetic acid mcpa and insecticides diazi- non carbaryl and malathion in recent years scientists have observed association between pesticide exposures and adverse effects on reproductive and neuro logical health and cancer while not all studies show consistent results a growing body of research suggests even low levels of pesticides can have a nega tive effect people can be exposed to pesticides from many sources trace levels in food indoor pesticide use and manykinds of outdoor pes ticide use because pesticide exposure comes from so many sources researchers have not been able to conduct a perfectly controlled scien tific study on how lawn care pesticides may affect peoples health however in the united states biomoni- toring studies document a widespread pres ence of pesticide breakdown products in- peoples urine councillor stan daurio should conduct more research the truth and consequences of pesticide use should not be determined by attending one workshop nor in the claims of industries that produce and sell pesticides for profit pesticide use should be phased out in our communities there are many harmless alternatives to pesticides including some you can make cheaply and easily at home for more information about pesticide use and human health read the previously men tioned toronto public health report its avail able at wwwcitytorontooncahealth mark price general manager water wastewater toronto letters policy stouffville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the newspaper reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write utters to the editor 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 email letterseconsuncom stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 ess dde canadian circulations audit board member ontario press council canadian publications mail product sales agreement 1403419 subscription rates by mall 1 year 6955 thursdays only stouffville tribune published every thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd group of newspapers which includes the ajavpickering news advertiser alliston heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east york minor erin advocatecountry routes etobicoke guardian flamborough post georgetown independentacton free press kingston this week lindsay this week midlandpenetanguishene mirror milton canadian champion milton shopping news mississauga news newmarket- aurora georgina erabanner northumberland news north york mirror oakville beaver oakville shopping news orillla today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week richmond hillthomhillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror stouffville tribune todays seniors uxbrldge tribune and city of york guardian phone 905 2942200 fax 905 2941538 classified i8oo7433353 distribution 905 2948244 distributioncconsuncom dave teetzel im not risking my neck when i see my chiropractor ive been getting the look a lot late ly the one that says are ya nutsit happens when i say im going to a chiropractic appointment it all stems from the highly publi cized coroners inquest into the 1996 stroke death of lana dale lewis pathologist dr john deck has testi fied hes 90percent certain mrs lewis stroke was caused by a chiropractic adjustment to her neck in case youre wondering my chiro practor adjusts my neck i am not a risk taker if i thought there was a significant chance of suffering a stroke i would not be visiting a chiro practor so what are my odds my chiropractor gave me an article that suggests a range of probabilities one research paper puts the risk of fatal stroke due to chiropractic manipu lation at 000025 per cent danish researchers estimate it at one stroke for every 13 million neck adjustments another author surveyed 5 million neck adjustments from 1965 to 1980 and found none of them resulted in a stroke but those figures are supplied by chi ropractors there are other studies link ing chiropractic and stroke a recent study found patients admit ted to ontario hospitals with a rare form of stroke that occurs in the vertebral blood vessels were five times more likely to have seen a chiropractor within a week of their stroke deanna m rothwell looked at patient records in ontario hospitals between 1993 and 1998 and then checked insurance billing records to see who had used chiropractic services she discovered nine of 582 people who had suffered this form of stroke had visited a chiropractor a week or less earlier dr rothwell says this is sta tistically significant but she admits she has no idea if any of these patients had neck manipulation done only that they visited a chiropractor hey come to think of it every med ical problem i have had in the past 10 years occurred within seven days of hav ing an adjustment and i would be will ing to bet this is true of every single per son who visits a chiropractor weekly the death at the centre of the current inquest occurred 17 days after mrs lewis visited her chiropractor im no medical expert and im not out to prejudge this inquest im a journalist trained to report my observations in nearly 10 years of regu lar neck adjustments i have experi enced only positive effects- because of my profession i also know its possible to hype up an alarming bit of news to the point where people become unnec essarily frightened it would be a shame if someone who could benefit from chiropractic treat ment were scared away from even investigating it by one sensational case