- Toward an Environmentally Responsible
Canadian Health Sector
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable
Development Tables Report
Please note that today, November 3, 2009, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD) tabled his report which includes a chapter (Chapter 2, “Managing Risks of Toxic Substances”) that assesses the government’s management of selected toxic substances. The objective of Chapter 2 of the report was to determine if Environment Canada and Health Canada had put in place adequate risk management regimes for seven selected substances that pose a threat to human health and/or the environment including; dichloromethane, dioxins & furans, lead, mercury, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polychlorinated biphenyls, and, DEHP.
While the overall conclusion finds the risk management of these seven substances is adequate, there are several recommendations documented in the CESD audit. Both departments accept these recommendations and take seriously their responsibilities to manage substances that are harmful to human health and/or the environment. Health Canada and Environment Canada will continue to work together to establish consolidated and comprehensive strategies to manage harmful chemicals, guided by the advice of the CESD.
The CESD acknowledged in his report that Health Canada and Environment Canada have undertaken significant measures to enhance the risk management of harmful substances, such as the Chemicals Management Plan, increased funding to monitor the level of harmful substances in Canadians and their environment, and the introduction of the proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act and the power to recall unsafe consumer products.
We invite you to read the report in more detail which is available at:
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_cesd_200911_02_e_33197.html
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/Francais/parl_cesd_200911_02_f_33197.html
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