Pesticide sprayed in local schools to be illegal in Canada next year

The owner of an Ottawa pesticide company said he and his co-workers would get headaches and often vomit after applying the same pesticides that were sprayed in Ottawa schools in recent weeks.

David Saunders, who owns Paramount Pest Control, said he applied products with Propoxur 20 years ago when he worked for a Gatineau company. He does not use it in his own business. “It is terrible … it smells like kerosene and gasoline.”

Saunders said he was shocked to hear products containing Propoxur had been sprayed inside Ottawa schools and an in-school daycare to deal with cockroaches.

“Kids can’t even bring peanut butter to school and they used Propoxur? If it was my kids, I would freak right out.”

A product called Konk 400, which contains Propoxur, was sprayed at Charles H. Hulse Public School earlier this month, in parts of the school, including an attached daycare. Students and staff complained of headaches, itchy eyes and nausea.

The school is now closed while students attend the formerly empty Parkwood Hills Public School. Ottawa Carleton District School Board officials, expect the school to reopen on May 4.

School board officials revealed this week that two other schools — Adult High School and Rideau High School — were also sprayed with pesticides containing Propoxur to control cockroaches. Two staff complained of symptoms at Adult High School, but no effects were reported at Rideau High School, which was sprayed last September.

The school board said it didn’t approve use of the product containing Propoxur.

Ottawa Public Health officials say the symptoms reported to them appear to be a reaction to the solvents that make up the bulk of the product and not pesticide toxicity. The reactions, they say, are short lived.

Saunders said he uses gel bait to control cockroaches. It works better, he said, and is safer.

Propoxur has been banned for indoor use in the United States since 2007 because of health concerns. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rates it as a probable carcinogen. California calls it a known carcinogen.

In recent years, there were requests to again allow its use in the United States to deal with a growing bedbug problem, but the Environmental Protection Agency turned down those requests saying Propoxur poses an “unacceptable risk to children.”

Health Canada, which regulates pesticides, re-evaluated Propoxur last year, ruling that it should no longer be used indoors in schools or daycares or on pet collars.

That ruling does not become mandatory until June 2016, however, meaning it is still legal to use it indoors in schools and daycares as long as label instructions are followed.

A Health Canada spokesman said this week it is encouraging “pest control companies to use alternative products that are registered for use in schools to treat for cockroaches.”

Gideon Foreman, executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, thinks it should be banned.

“There is good reason to be concerned from a cancer point of view,” he said. “We think it should be banned. There are so many nontoxic, safer alternatives.”

Health Canada was slammed by former federal Environment Commissioner Johanne Gelinas for dragging its feet when it came to re-evaluating pesticides.

“Many pesticides were registered for legal use decades ago when health and environment standards were lower. They’re now being re-evaluated to see if they meet current standards — but the work is not well-managed and is going too slowly.”

Saunders said cockroaches are a common problem in Ottawa and are generally treated with management, clean up and gel bait. The Ottawa Catholic School Board has dealt with cockroaches at three of its schools since January.

Instead of spraying, once the location of the insects is known, a hidden gel bait or powder is used, said spokeswoman Mardi de Kemp.

Rentokil, the international company with the pest control contract at the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, says it followed all current regulations and labelling procedures.

Kids can’t even bring peanut butter to school and they used Propoxur? If it was my kids, I would freak right out