OTTAWA—Parents are unknowingly putting their children at risk of exposure to lead and other toxic substances because of inadequate product labelling, according to the latest report from Canada’s environmental watchdog.
The Auditor General’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Scott Vaughan, studied seven of 85 substances listed as toxic by the feds and found several areas in need of improvement.
“Labelling is a control measure that can be useful in informing consumers of the presence of toxic substances in products they purchase,” the report said. “Regarding two of the substances we examined, dichloromethane and lead, labels for consumer products that may contain these substances do not fully inform consumers of the potential hazards these products may pose.”
Some of the products found to contain unsafe levels of toxins, if people are exposed over long periods of time, include children’s toys, batteries and paint products.
The report said the federal government should revise its ‘management strategies’ for toxic substances and require companies to label products so they inform consumers of the hazards associated with long-term exposure.
The report also pointed out a lack of federal power to control potentially toxic consumer items.
“For those products that contain lead above the regulated limits, Health Canada lacks powers that would allow it to issue mandatory product recalls,” the report said. “It must negotiate voluntary recalls with industry.”
The audit also found that Environment Canada spends $6.3 million annually to inventory pollutants emitted by major industries but the system lacks any real value, in part, because industries self-report their emissions.
“Environment Canada does not routinely conduct on-site visits to verify facilities’ data input and, as a result, there is limited, on-site checking of data quality,” the report said. “Efforts to ensure that facilities comply focus largely on having them submit reports on time.”
Peter.zimonjic@sunmedia.ca
