Ontario Pesticide Ban

by Sandy
(Eastern Ontario)

Hi Doug,
I recently received a note from a local nursery that there is an Ontario Pecticide Ban coming into effect April 22, 2009 and that Roundup is among the banned products. I can't seem to find an official list of banned products. Does this mean that Roundup won't be available for me to buy at the local Home Hardware store? I don't use any other herbicides or insecticides, but Roundup helps to keep out the poison ivy that threatens to encroach on our rural property. Thanks for any insight you can provide.

Doug says that this is indeed true. Roundup will not be available for sale for homeowner use. All chemicals for cosmetic use on the homeowner side are now banned for sale to the public. My understanding is that the list is still being worked on as products are added to it but you can find the basic guidelines right here - with info in the right hand nav bar.

Stay tuned to the organic section I'm developing over at my organic gardening area for weed control of noxious weeds using organic controls.

Update: Roundup and other chemicals are available - for control of certain noxious weeds - considered a Category 7 chemical. Check the link above for details.

Comments for
Ontario Pesticide Ban

Click here to add your own comments

In The Garden
by: Doug

Doug says..... Unless you can add something valuable to this thread, it will be deleted. Ranting about somebody taking away your chemicals or how safe they are (you haven't been killed yet or don't have two heads or whatever) or even taking the extreme organic position - these will not be published as they do not add to the conversation.

The fact of the matter is there is mounting evidence against the use of many chemicals in our environment. And if we want to pass along clean air and water to our grandchildren, it may indeed mean changing the way we live. Organic lifestyles may indeed not be as easy as whipping out some chemical but that's the price we pay for our children's children.

And that my friends is the last word on this subject.

there are alternatives
by: Benjamin

I`m with some of the other commenters here.I understand that some people may have problems with poison ivy,etc.;but using commercial herbicides(glyphosate,2,4-D)is not necessary and may be harmful to people,pets,etc.in your immediate community.These products are toxic and their excessive use has created a major pollutant problem and public hazard in the parks and residential locations where they are used.You dont have to be a contributor to it.If you look around,you will find eco-friendly alternatives,either in the form of commercial products or home remedies.Herbicide overuse has fouled water,food crops & soil and even killed many dogs and cats due to lawn treatments,and yet people still dont get it.

No Roundup in Canadian Tire anymore
by: Stefan

I got a very serious case of poison ivy rash and have suffered for the past 2 weeks. When I contacted the Ministry of the Environment in Ontario, they advised me that Roundup could be purchased at Canadian Tire and that it was a good way to kill the poison ivy in my backyard.
Well, no luck finding any of this product in a Toronto Canadian Tire store.
And as for the person who suggested using vinegar to get rid of poison ivy - absolute rubbish! My neighbour tried that and it failed miserably.
I'll be making a trip to Buffalo to purchase a good supply. Or another province. If farmers can use it on their vegetable crops, I believe it is safe enough to use it in my backyard and protect my family!

Ecological Refugee in Canada
by: Ellen

Hi Folks_

So interesting to read the deep fears of those who seem terrified of the plant world and need to kill certain aspects of it. I agree that there is an uncertainty in researching alternatives such as the lovely suggestion of vinegar and black plastic. Did you know neem oil in H2o does wonders on wooly aedelghid (spelling).

So I have taken a self imposed exhile here in Quebec and eventually Ontario to where health minsters, concerned parents of cancer stricken kids and commen sense has prevailed.

I escaped from an idyllic ski resort town situated in the middle of the White Mountain National Forest in NH. Why escape from paradise...
6-8 times a year of blanket virtually town wide spraying of 30 condo developments for the perfect lawn. Dicamba, Roundup, Pendimethilin, 2-4-D, etc have accumulated in me. I am the Waterville Valley canary in the coalmine.

What exactly is pesticide poisoning like....
A heartbeat so rapid you think you are having a heart attack, trying to catch air to breathe and it is impossible. My body literally shakes with nervous system toxicity and lying down makes it worse, so much pressure on the heart, in the chest I thought I was dying. Then a dull headache at the back of my skull and a feeling as if poison is actually running down my veins. Days later after being imobile, the muscle aches and joint aches start and if you are really lucky you get to skip only one menstrual cycle. Oh yeah did I mention the depression and near suicidal feelings.

Does it not make sense that a product designed to kill things would attack a nervous, respiratory, circulatory and just about every other system in the body.

Sadly, it has bioaccumulated in my body for years and even though we agreed at two town meetings to stop using these products and go organic, the Stone Property management company who has ordered these sprayings for years and had promised to stop was out the other day with a cannister of Roundup in the Truck.

Please just read Wickipedia on the false advertising Monsanto has done. Read why Denmark is banning the product and if that does not convince you...

Even the worst poison ivy could not be worse than almost dying two weeks ago when the Forest Botanist was spraying Roundup or glyphosate in the White Mountain National Forest without any warning signs, I walked into it and suffered all of this.

PLEASE think twice about yourselves and children and take to heart the alternatives suggested. They may require a bit more work. But do you really want you , your children or pets to end up in my situation...

Thank you Canada for having the sense to ban ROUNDUP and other products. I am up here because I can no longer breathe in my native country.

Thanks for listening.

Yes, I know that

Norm
by: Doug

Norm - you said "Apparently we are not intelligent enough to take the concentrated stuff home and dilute it with water to the appropriate strength"

Well, frankly I'd agree with the government position. I and just about anybody else who works in the retail nursery business has horror stories about people (otherwise bright folks) who decide if a little is good - a lot is better. Or who use whatever happens to be in the garage to "kill" the insects in their garden - and when it doesn't work - they ask why the fungicide didn't kill the bugs.

My most memorable was the woman who came into our nursery reeking of Cygon 2E. Instead of painting this extremely toxic chemical onto the bark of a trunk - she had sprayed it all over the tree. This material is so dangerous, it will kill you (and there are human fatalities associated) and I had to tell her to hustle home - get a shower and call the hospital and poison control centers to deal with this.

Smart folks indeed.

Would I trust the average non-gardener to make decisions about lawn and garden chemicals - not a chance.

So be as upset as you like - the health implications for my family just got better.

Debbie
by: Doug

OK - so you decided to do something really dumb and manually pull poison ivy? How did you plan on not being hit by the oil?

You did this instead of finding a licensed applicator who could spray it for you?

And you did this without researching the ways to kill plants without using noxious chemicals.

Try using something like pickling vinegar (7% acetic acid) that will usually knock them back in 3 sprays (add 2 cups of salt to a gallon of vinegar plus a dash of dish soap) for extra "burning" power) and cover the leaves. It takes repeated sprays (usually 3 times) to kill this plant but it works.

There are alternatives to spraying that include these kinds of things but it you decide you want to complain and not learn about organic weed control techniques - then that's your decision.

Sorry for your pain but there are alternatives that work.

Anonymous Posters Complain, Complain
by: Doug

Dear Anonymous - you can get rid of it by calling a licensed applicator who will be glad to spray it with a registered chemical for that purpose.

If your concern is health - get somebody to spray it.

If your concern is that it will cost you more money - then you've put your health behind your finances.

But it really doesn't matter what I say - or what the data says about the safety of even chemicals such as Roundup (inert ingredients are major human health problems) - you've made up your mind that you "need" chemicals.

So - assuming you want to spray the noxious weed - get somebody to do it and pay them.

Poison Ivy
by: Debbie

Never mind the kids - I came down with the worst case of poison Ivy my Doctor has ever seen. Missed a week of work and could barely walk for 2 weeks. We have purchased Roundup at Walmart but have been told that it is so diluted that it isn't strong enough. We have been using it along with pulling the plants and spraying javex. If anyone knows where we can get a pesticide that will call this week I would love to know. I am so highly allergic that I can't go through this again. This plant is at our cottage so it's not realistic to have to wear work boots and cover head to toe. I would love to email a picture of my scares to someone at the province so they can see the damage and the pain I have had to endour.

Let them pay for their stupidity with healthcare costs!
by: Anonymous

O.K. so I have a 6ftx4ftx12 ft high area of poison ivy in my yard and now I'll have to buy and dispose of 100 bottles of Round up and spray it 50 times instead of 1 bottle of Brush-b-gone that I would probably need to use once or twice. How exactly is that better for the environment? Maybe I'll just let it grow and when all the neighbourhood kids are at the doctor's for poison ivy the government can come and spray it themselves!

RoundUp
by: norm

Big Brother has decided you can indeed still purchase RoudUp (for control of noxious weeds.) However, you can no longer buy the concentrated form-just the pre-mixed solution that is ready to use. Apparently we are not intelligent enough to take the concentrated stuff home and dilute it with water to the appropriate strength. So now instead of one plastic bottle to dispose of, you will have to go through about twelve plastic spray bottles to acheive the same result.
Beuracracy. Brilliant, isn't it.

Class 7 Chemicals
by: Doug

Turns out there's a class of chemicals called Class 7 that can be purchased to remove noxious plants (poison ivy etc) but not used for cosmetic purposes. Roundup is included. So you can purchase it for noxious plant control but NOT legally use it around the house for weed control. Yeah, go control that one. ;-)

You can buy Roundup for Poison Ivy
by: Dave Mc

I was told at an Ontario Canadian Tire Store(where Roundup was on the shelf) that someone could purchase the product and the receipt states that it is only to be used for noxious weeds.

There's still a picture of a dandelion creeping up between the sidewalk stones on the label :)

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Questions Organic Gardening

Doug Green