European Union links cancer and pesticide exposure

CASSY O’CONNOR, Greens Environment Spokesperson

Tasmania has Highest Rates of Cancer in Australia
The Tasmanian Greens has called on the Bartlett Government to acknowledge the European Union’s recent Communication on Cancer, released on the 24th of June this year [1], which includes formal recognition that exposure to chemicals and pesticides is a key determinant of cancer.

Greens Environment spokesperson Cassy O’Connor MP said Tasmania has the highest rates of cancer (excluding skin cancer) in Australia, and while lifestyle and socio-economic factors play a role in these alarming rates of chronic disease, contemporary science is now suggesting a strong causal link between Tasmania’s high rates of chronic disease and the continued exposure of the Tasmanian people to pesticides in their drinking water.

Ms O’Connor also said that the Bartlett Government currently has no idea what amounts of pesticides are being sprayed in Tasmania, or exactly where they are being sprayed, but these chemicals are regularly detected in Tasmanian drinking water supplies, a situation which the government must address by adopting an approach that puts the health and safety of Tasmanians first, and banning the use of cancer-linked pesticides in Tasmania.

“The EU has taken a major step forward in recognising the environmental dimension of cancer, including formal recognition that exposure to chemicals and pesticides are key causal factors for the development of cancers,” said Ms O’Connor.

“Tasmania has the highest rates of all cancers in Australia, excluding skin cancer. Lifestyle and socio-economic factors do have a role to play in these high rates of chronic disease, but this latest communication from the EU suggests that the regular exposure of the Tasmanian population to pesticides in their air, water and soil must also be a causal factor in our skyrocketing chronic disease rates.”

“Pesticides linked to cancer and Parkinson’s Disease are regularly being detected in Tasmania’s drinking water supplies, yet the Bartlett Government continues to ignore the situation.”

“The Bartlett Government must prioritise the health and safety of the Tasmanian population, adopt the Precautionary Approach, and move to ban all cancer-linked pesticides from use in Tasmania,” said Ms O’Connor.

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Reference:

[1] “COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS, on Action Against Cancer: European Partnership,” Released 24 June 2009, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_information/dissemination/diseases/docs/com_2009_291.en.pdf