Toxic “forever chemicals” are being found in the blood of Canadians — and even higher levels are being found in northern Indigenous communities — says a new report from the government of Canada.
Health Canada and Environment Canada have released a draft assessment of the science on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Both departments propose listing the human-made chemicals as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA).
Listing a substance as toxic under CEPA is the first step toward the government enacting regulations to ban it, as Ottawa did with single-use plastic items.
Studies show PFAS can harm human health and wildlife. Some of the chemicals accumulate in the liver and kidneys.
Because PFAS break down very slowly, living things are exposed to them repeatedly and PFAS blood levels can build up over time.
PFAS can be found in various consumer products — cosmetics, diapers, menstrual products, food packaging, carpets, furniture and clothing. But while many of these products are considered disposable, PFAS chemicals hang around.
“Only diamonds should be forever — not human-made substances that are polluting our environment,” said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in a tweet.
“We must do all that we can to protect the health and safety of Canadians and our environment,” said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.
The government defines PFAS as a class of more than 4,700 human-made chemicals — a list that keeps growing.
The government report states humans are also exposed to “forever chemicals” through the air they breathe, in dust and in drinking water.
Sustainable packaging contains harmful chemicals: study
New research has found that some packaging that’s touted as environmentally friendly contains high-levels of PFAS chemicals that can be damaging to the environment and human health. PFAS are hard to break down and have been linked to multiple different types of cancer.
The “extremely persistent” chemicals are found across Canada and even in the remote Arctic, the report said.
PFAS are also used in firefighting equipment like flame-retardant foam and in vital components in electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels.
“[PFAS] contribute to clean energy and emissions reduction,” said Danielle Morrison, a policy manager for the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada.
The association said its members will follow the science but it cautions against banning PFAS that are essential and for which no alternatives exist.
PFAS can be passed to fetuses: report
Aside from finding traces of PFAS in the blood of Canadians, Health Canada and Environment Canada’s review showed pregnant moms can transmit these substances through the placenta. Infants, it found, can be exposed to PFAS through breast milk.
The report said that, internationally, firefighters are among the groups known to face increased exposure to PFAS. In Canada, it said, another population is at risk.
“Northern Indigenous communities (as measured in adults, including pregnant women), as well as Indigenous youth and children in other parts of Canada were found to have elevated levels of certain PFAS,” the government report said.
“Effects commonly reported in animal studies include effects on the liver, kidney, thyroid, immune system, nervous system, metabolism and body weight, and reproduction and development,” the report found.
It said outcomes are similar in human epidemiological studies.
“There has been enough exposure to PFAS long enough that we are finding adverse effects in the human population,” said Miriam Diamond, a professor at the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto.
Diamond, who studies how PFAS enter the environment, said Canada is “conducting an experiment in real-time on the health of our population.”
It’s time to ban non-essential PFAS, she said.
Prof. Miriam Diamond holds one of the compostable paper bowls analyzed in her lab. That type of food container was found to have high levels of PFAS or ‘forever chemicals.’ (Robert Krbavac)
Canada already restricts some PFAS, but an environmental group said Canada is taking a piecemeal approach and needs to go further.
“It’s really important that we cut this off at the source and stop trying to do the small pieces,” said Cassie Barker, a senior program manager of toxics at Environmental Defence.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
