Groups sue Canada feds over lack of review for pesticides banned in Europe

Two environmental groups are suing the federal government for approving products containing three pesticides.

Équiterre and the David Suzuki Foundation have filed the suit against the Federal Minister of Health and The Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) at the Federal Court in Ottawa.

The environmentalists complain that the government refuses to undertake an in-depth investigation into trichlorfon, trifluralin and chlorthal-dimethyl.

The three pesticides have been banned in Europe due to concerns about their effect on human health and the environment but they are still permitted for use in Canada, as Isabelle St-Germain of the Équiterre group lamented in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Équiterre and the David Suzuki Foundation also denounced long delays in proceeding with their request to review 26 other pesticides.

The Quebec government, for its part, has prohibited the sale of the lawn chemical dimethyl chlorthal since 2003.