Avoid Neem Active Toothpaste

Health Canada is warning Canadians not to use Neem Active
Toothpaste with Calcium, manufactured by Calcutta Chemical Co.
Ltd. in India and found on the Canadian market, because it
has been found to contain unacceptable levels of diethylene
glycol (DEG).

Counterproductive Diet Pop

Diet soft drinks linked to health risks: study

A huge U.S. study of middle-aged adults has found that drinking more than one soft drink a day — even a sugar-free diet brand — may be associated with an elevated risk for metabolic syndrome, a cluster of factors that significantly boosts the chance of having a heart attack or stroke and developing diabetes.

"We found that one or more sodas per day increases your risk of new-onset metabolic syndrome by about 45 per cent, and it did not seem to matter if it was regular or diet," Dr. Ramachandran Vasan, senior investigator for the Framingham Heart Study, said Monday from Boston.

Because the corn syrup that sweetens most regular soft drinks can cause weight gain and lead to insulin resistance and diabetes, "you would expect to see an association with regular soft drinks — but not diet soft drinks," he said. "Our findings suggest that this is not the case."

Metabolic syndrome is associated with five specific health indicators: excess abdominal fat; high blood sugar; high triglycerides; low levels of the good cholesterol HDL; and elevated blood pressure.

The study included nearly 9,000 observations of middle-aged men and women over four years at three different times. The study looked at how many 355-millilitre cans of cola or other soft drinks a participant consumed each day.

The researchers found that compared to those who drank less than one can per day, subjects who downed one or more soft drinks daily had a:

• 31 per cent greater risk of becoming obese (with a body mass index of 30 or more).
• 30 per cent increased risk of adding on belly fat.
• 25 per cent higher risk of developing high blood triglycerides or high blood sugar.
• 32 per cent higher risk of having low HDL levels.

But Vasan and his colleagues, whose study was published Monday in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, are unsure what it is about soft drinks that ratchets up the risk of metabolic syndrome.

"We really don't know," he said. "This soda consumption may be a marker for a particular dietary pattern or lifestyle. Individuals who drink one or more sodas per day tend to be people who have greater caloric intake. They tend to have more of saturated fats and trans fats in their diet, they tend to be more sedentary, they seem to have lower consumption of fibre."

Soft drink consumption declining in Canada

While soft drink consumption is declining in Canada, statistics from 2006 showed that Canadians overall still gulp down an average of 85 litres each per year.

Dr. David Jenkins, director of the Risk Factor Modification Centre at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, said previous studies have suggested that diet pops did not have the same effects on weight and health as do naturally sweetened soft drinks.

"The unusual thing that needs comment is they [the study's authors] say that the diet colas are the same as the calorically sweetened colas," said Jenkins. "So I think that is the piece that they've put into this puzzle.… I think we need a lot more scrutiny of that."

Jenkins said he believes that high consumption of soft drinks likely goes along with eating a high-calorie diet.

"I think the disappointing thing is if you thought you were doing [yourself] a major service … by taking diet drinks, this is not helping you," he said. "Before we were saying take the diet [drink] and you're OK. Now we're saying: 'Watch it.' "

Caramel, used to colour colas, is an ingredient that goes through a chemical reaction that has been shown in studies to "be quite toxic," said Jenkins. "It's possible that [such products] increase insulin resistance and cause oxidative stress and damage and all the other things we don't want."

Source:CBC.ca

Homemade Cleaners

Source: Men's Health July 2007

Optimum Sleep Pill Potential Addiction

Health Canada on Wednesday warned consumers not to use the sleep supplement Optimum Health Care Sleep Easy because it may be addictive after being taken for as little as a few months.

The product contains the drug clonazepam. It is not listed on the label and should only be taken under the supervision of a health-care professional.

"Consumers who may still have this product in their homes are advised to consult with a health-care professional before they stop taking the pills, because of the risk of serious withdrawal symptoms," Health Canada said in its advisory.

The sleep aid has not been authorized for sale in Canada but was sold at Vancouver's Optimum Health Care.

People with the neuromuscular disorder myasthenia gravis, sleep apnea, or allergies to drugs known as benzodiazepines such as Valium should not use sleep aids containing clonazepam. Pregnant women should not rely on sleep aids containing clonazepam unless absolutely necessary while the elderly and those with a history of substance abuse should use them with caution.

Side effects linked to products containing clonazepam include dizziness, drowsiness, confusion, depression, memory loss and hallucinations. No associated adverse reactions have been reported in Canada.

Consumers should return the product to the retailer. For more information, consumers can call Health Canada at 1-866-225-0709
Source: CBC.ca

Free EatRight Ontario Service

Ontario launches phone line offering nutrition and diet advice

Ontario residents with questions about healthy eating and nutrition can now seek out answers online or by telephone.

Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson has launched the free EatRight Ontario telephone service to provide what he calls credible information. Watson says the service will connect people directly with registered dieticians to discuss healthy food choices and explain diet-related health risk factors.

The toll-free number is 1-877-510-5102, and information is available online at www.ontario.ca/eatright.

Dietitians are available by phone Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The service is provided in more than 120 languages.

Muscular Disappearing Act

Source: Men's Health July 2007

Iron Age

Weight training helpful to elderly and patients with heart failure, experts say

Pumping a little iron can help elderly nursing home residents and heart failure patients gain strength for everyday life, the American Heart Association says, expanding on earlier advice.

"Those folks are capable of exercise training benefits and certainly resistance training is part of that," said Mark Williams, who led the group that wrote the new guidance published Monday online in the journal Circulation.

Williams said resistance training, whether it's lifting weights or doing sit-ups, should be used as a complement to aerobic exercise.

"A lot of people after having a heart attack or heart failure think they need to 'take it easy,"' said Dr. Amit Khera, director of cardiac rehabilitation at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He said broader guidance should help reassure doctors and patients that it's probably OK for most people to start exercising after heart trouble.

Khera said cardiac patients using weights are often restricted to lighter weights of about one or two kilograms for the first couple of weeks.

The heart association statement cited one study of a 10-week period of resistance training among nursing home residents with an average age of 87 that resulted in improvements in strength and stair-climbing power. In a study of older women who were heart failure patients, 10 weeks of resistance training resulted in a 43 per cent increase in muscle strength and a 49 per cent increase in the distance covered in a six-minute walk.

The statement also notes that elderly people and women who suffer from coronary heart disease (a narrowing of the small blood vessels to the heart), or are frail can benefit from workouts including resistance training because they build muscle strength.

Resistance weight training includes using one's body for weight resistance by doing things like abdominal crunches to using resistance-cord exercises, dumbbells, wrist weights or weight machines.

It's been known for some time that resistance training is good for everyone, from those with chronic diseases to healthy people. Resistance training for heart patients has been gaining momentum for the last two decades or so, said Williams, professor of medicine in the cardiology division at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Neb.

Tom Simerly, 57, of suburban DeSoto, who had a procedure to open a clogged artery seven weeks ago, started rehabilitation a week after he got out of the hospital. Though lackadaisical about exercise before, Simerly said that he's noticed improved strength as he goes to rehab three days a week. He works out on a treadmill, stationary bicycle and has graduated from free weights to weight machines.

"The whole regimen has been really good," said Simerly, who works for a Dallas engineering firm. "My stamina's better. I sleep better. I feel better about myself. I've lost some weight."

Dr. Art Labovitz, cardiology director at St. Louis University School of Medicine, said that despite increasing knowledge about the benefits of resistance training, the public perception is likely that it's largely off-limits for heart patients.

"I think probably the conventional wisdom is that if you have a heart condition, you can't lift weights," Labovitz said.

He added that there may be some circumstances where a heart patient shouldn't do such training.

The statement recommends that those who do resistance training start out slow, setting the resistance or weight load at a moderate level to achieve the prescribed repetition range without straining. Elderly people should start with a low level of resistance. As progress is made, they should first increase the number of repetitions before adding weight or resistance.

Resistance weight training can help heart patients resume activities from their daily life by building muscle strength, said Jenny Adams of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital.

"The truth of the matter is when you ask these patients what their goals are, they want to lift their grandkids, work in the yard," Adams said.

source: CBC.ca

Sesame Seed Salmonella

f you're a big fan of sesame seeds, now might be the time to start trying other things.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning the public that certain sesame seeds carried by grocery stores across three provinces may be contaminated with Salmonella. The agency says people should avoid Quik Kook White Sesame Seeds, which are sold in eight-kilogram bags at various stores throughout Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. A similar warning was issued less than a month ago.

The food inspection agency is also advising people who have purchased sesame seeds on or after June 1st to contact the place they bought them and determine if their product is affected.

The concern is that food contaminated with Salmonella may not look or smell spoiled but consuming the bacteria can cause salmonellosis, an infection with potentially deadly results.

Especially at risk are kids, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.

Bags containing the seeds bear the UPC code 0 58877 16585 8 and lot codes 71131, 71141 and 71481.
Source: CityNews.ca

Sickening Stella Suds

CFIA, Labatt issuing warning over possibly tampered Stella Artois bottles

Labatt Breweries and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are issuing a consumer advisory over bottles of Stella Artois (AR'-twah) beer that may have been tampered with.

The six 330-millilitre single-serve bottles were sold only in restaurants and bars and bear best before dates of November and December of 2005. Canadian Food Inspection Agency official said new labels appeared to have been glued over the originals on the neck of the bottles.

The bottles had also been opened and a concentrated alcohol placed inside.

The suspected tampering incidents occurred with beers sold at restaurants and bars in Toronto and Kamloops, B.C.

Garfield Balsom of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says that no one fell ill, but that bar and restaurant patrons who drank the beer tasted the alcohol and generally spat it back out within seconds.

Restaurants and bars are being advised to check Stella Artois beer bottles for the affected best before end and production codes before serving.

There are no reported incidents involving product purchased at beer or liquor stores.

Police are investigating.

Source: CBC.ca

Recalled Ground Beef Update

Canada's food watchdog, grocery chain update ground beef alert

Canada's food watchdog and Canada Safeway have released more information in the recall of certain fresh and frozen ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli.

Independent grocers may have resized, repackaged and relabelled the affected frozen ground beef patties, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Canada Safeway said Tuesday in the updated health hazard alert.

Consumers who are unsure if their product is included in the recall should contact the store.

The recall applies to the following products:

• Fresh ground beef (lean, regular, extra lean and market trim) sold at Safeway and independent grocery stores in B.C. and Alberta between May 24 and June 5, 2007. The products are marked with a best before dates from May 25 to June 6 inclusively.
• Butcher's Cut frozen ground beef patties sold in 1.13 kg packages. The products, which bear the UPC code UPC 58200 21604 and a Julian code date of 143, were sold on May 24, 2007, at Safeway and independent grocery stores in Western Canada, and in regions in Ontario west of Thunder Bay.
• Sunny Dawn frozen ground beef patties, marked with a Julian date 143-07, sold on or after May 24, 2007, at independent grocery stores in Western Canada, Yukon, Northwest Territories and in Ontario west of Thunder Bay.

Five associated illnesses have been reported, the CFIA said.

Food contaminated with the potentially life-threatening E. coli 0157:H7 may not look or smell spoiled, the federal agency said. Symptoms include severe abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea, and some people may suffer seizures or strokes. Consumption of food spoiled with the bacteria may cause permanent kidney damage or death.
Source: CBC.ca

Spare Me theDeep Dish

Downsize my dish

Three years ago, members of Montreal's venerable University Club started complaining that food portions served in their dining room had swelled beyond their appetites.

So the private social club struck a committee, which served up a quick and straightforward recommendation: less food.

Chef Alain Monod revamped the menu, shrinking main courses by at least 10 per cent and often more. A 14-ounce sirloin became a nine-ounce minute steak and, instead of apple pie, diners could order an open-faced apple tart, cut into 10 servings instead of eight.

"We are traditional French," says Mr. Monod, who hails from Paris. "We got stuck following the North American trend."

The University Club was among the first to get the message that super-sized portions are falling out of fashion with diners everywhere from gourmet eateries to fast-food chains.

This spring, Haagen-Dazs began selling ice-cream bars in half-size portions, while Subway restaurants are currently rolling out four-inch subs - two inches smaller than their half subs - at franchises across the country.

Smitty's, an Alberta-based family-dining chain, has done away with combo meals.

It's a trend largely driven by baby boomers who want healthier, tastier meals rather than more food for less money, says Jill Holroyd, vice-president research and communications of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, an organization that represents 34,000 eateries across Canada.

Ms. Holroyd says restaurant owners are noticing diners attempting to control portions.

Some order two appetizers and no main course, or split an entree between two people.

Ordering a main dish and requesting that half be set aside to take home is also becoming common, Ms. Holroyd says. "There's no hesitation in asking for a doggie bag."

The new trend is forcing restaurants and food suppliers to rethink their business models as well as their menus, and introduce new products that encourage consumers to buy more food in smaller portions.

This month, for example, The Pickle Barrel, a Toronto-area chain of deli-style restaurants, is making smaller portions available in a new menu of under-500-calorie dishes endorsed by diet guru Rose Reisman. A six-ounce hamburger ($10.99) served with goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, oven-browned potatoes and no bun is the new gourmet alternative to the restaurant's standard eight-ounce patty served with French fries for $7.49.

The idea for the menu came after Pickle Barrel president Peter Higley visited Seasons 52, a Florida-based restaurant that only serves dishes of 500 calories or less.

But reducing portion size also has pitfalls for restaurants and food suppliers who risk alienating value-oriented consumers. One of the first customers to try the six-ounce burger complained he was still hungry after eating, says Mr. Higley, though none have complained since. The hungry customer was directed to other options on The Pickle Barrel's 300-item menu.

Subway is rolling out four-inch subs with little fanfare this year, and prefers to point out that the chain promotes healthy eating by offering consumers the ability to customize their subs with vegetables and lean meats.

The company initially offered round deli rolls as an alterative to the standard six-inch and foot-long subs. Customers liked the smaller option, but wanted their sandwich on sub-shaped bread, Subway spokesman Kevin Kane says.

The trend to downsizing does not only include obvious diet-conscious eats, such as the soy-glazed salmon with edamame salsa inspired by Ms. Reisman.

Haagen-Dazs's miniature ice-cream bars were introduced to the Canadian market after food conglomerate Nestlé noticed an increase in demand for its Nestlé Minis, a small ice-cream snack targeted at children, which had been on the shelves since 2001.

The bars, half the size of the original, were previously sold in France. At 180 to 200 calories, "people can still indulge without the guilt," says Catherine O'Brien, a company spokesperson.

Likewise, the restaurant chain TGI Friday's launched a new option in March allowing customers to order fatty favourites like chicken parmesan and baby-back ribs in smaller portions at reduced prices.

The trend is welcomed by Marion Nestle, a public-health professor at New York University and food-industry watchdog.

Dr. Nestle, author of What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating, has been sounding the alarm on growing portion sizes for years, blaming them for rising rates of obesity.

"If you give people larger portions, they eat more," she says. "People eat what is in front of them."

Her point has been confirmed by research conducted over the past three decades that has repeatedly found that adults and children eat more when offered larger portions, regardless of their appetite.

But her endorsement is measured. Restaurants continue to use more fat, sugar and salt in their cooking than required, she says, and she feels many diners have become addicted to large portions.

"I think any change would take a long time. People are going to feel cheated if they are paying the same money for something smaller."

She continues to order only one appetizer as her meal when dining in restaurants. She used to make a meal of two appetizers, but found their sizes have swelled to that of a regular entree over the years.

Mr. Higley of The Pickle Barrel acknowledges it will take a while for the entire restaurant industry to make the switch to smaller portions.

"Still," he says, "the era of the 10-ounce burger is over.
Source: TheGlobeandMail.com

Elderly Sleeping Pill Addiction

Half of elderly patients become chronic sleeping pill users

Half of elderly patients prescribed a type of sleeping pill upon release from hospital are chronic users of the drug six months later, finds a study released Monday.

The study by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) found that half of elderly patients who were prescribed benzodiazepines for the first time in hospital were still using the drug six months later.

Benzodiazepines are a commonly prescribed drug in Canada, with millions of prescriptions each year. The drug is commonly prescribed in hospital to help patients cope with anxiety and insomnia.

The drug's side-effects include lingering daytime sedation and cognition problems, which are intensified in older patients. Benzodiazepines have been linked to motor vehicle collisions and to falls and related injuries, and can be addictive.

From April 1992 to March 2005, the study tracked seniors 66 and older who had not been prescribed benzodiazepine drugs in the year before hospitalization.

Of almost 12,500 patients prescribed the sleeping pills during the study, more than 6,100 were still taking the drug during the next six months.

The study also identified patients who were at high-risk of becoming chronic users. People at risk included patients who were:

• Women.
• Admitted to the intensive care unit of non-surgical wards.
• Hospitalized longer.
• Diagnosed with additional illnesses.
• Previously diagnosed with alcoholism.
• Prescribed more medications.

Older individuals had a lower risk of becoming chronic users.

Study highlights health-care weakness

Dr. Chaim Bell, the lead author of the study and an ICES adjunct scientist, says the study revealed an area of health care that could be improved. Patients who were not taking benzodiazepine before their hospitalization continued to receive and take the drug after discharge, risking a chronic addiction.

"The issue that I really want to highlight is the transition, the continuity of care from hospital to community," he told CBC.ca. "We need medication reconciliation, looking at what medications people are on before hospitalization, what they're prescribed during hospitalization, and reconciling things when they're discharged."

Bell says there needs to be better co-ordination between the hospital and personal doctors to help patients transition from treatment in hospital to home, and to help reduce the risk of new chronic users.

As well, initiatives such as the development of electronic medical records and formal medication lists may help to further reduce the risk.

source: CBC.ca

Market Fresh Benefits

Source: Men's Health July 2007

Great Lakes Fish Inedible

Great Lakes fish still unfit to eat, group says

Many types of popular sports fish found in the Great Lakes remain so heavily contaminated by industrial chemicals such as dioxins, PCBs, and methyl mercury that they are unfit for human consumption, says a report released Thursday by Environmental Defence, a Toronto-based conservation group.

The report says that while there have been reductions in contaminants in parts of the Great Lakes, severe problems remain, particularly for fish caught in Lake Ontario, where there has been a marked rise in the number of advisories recommending reduced fish consumption. Contamination levels are also worrisome in Lake Huron and many areas with unsafe-to-eat fish remain in Lake Erie and even Lake Superior, the least polluted of the Great Lakes.

The fish species reviewed included coho salmon, rainbow trout, walleye, pike, and lake trout.

”The trends in fish consumption advisories clear indicate that the lakes continue to be polluted to such an extent that human health is threatened,” it said, calling for steps to significantly reduce pollution emissions in the Great Lakes basin and deal with the continuing legacy of dangerous chemicals, such as PCBs, once used electrical equipment but banned in 1970s. Even though PCBs have not been used for decades, they are still being found in some fish at unsafe levels.

The report was based on a comparison of Ministry of Environment recommendation on the safety of various types of fish issued in 2005, and another released earlier this year.

About five million kilograms of industrial pollutants are being released directly into he lakes, according to the report.

Although fish are a food source high in protein and many health experts recommend regular consumption of them, the report said it did not want to discourage people from eating fish but wanted to highlight the need for continuing action to reduce discharges of harmful chemicals into the water.

”Fish advisories due to damaging levels of toxic contamination in Great Lakes fish serve as a potent warning that to safeguard the Great Lakes as a vital resource and international treasure, we must dramatically reduce pollution in the basin,” it said.

source: theglobeandmail.com

Golden Arches Spin Green Wheels in UK

From fries to fuel

McDonald's Corp. plans to convert its British delivery fleet to run on biodiesel made largely from its own recycled cooking oil, the company said yesterday.

Matthew Howe, senior vice-president of McDonald's UK, said the fast-food restaurant should eventually be able to replace the six million litres of diesel its fleet used last year with cooking oil from its 1,200 restaurants in Britain.

"We may even have a little bit of excess (biodiesel) capacity we can sell into the market," Mr. Howe told Reuters.

McDonald's launched its rollout yesterday with half of its 45-strong fleet based in Basingstoke in southern England. In about a year, the company plans to convert all its 155 delivery trucks to run on the green fuel.

Mr. Howe said the fuel would not smell of the company's food.

"It would have been one of the best marketing campaigns we could ever have had," Mr. Howe said.

The biodiesel will initially be made up of 85 per cent used cooking oil collected from about 900 McDonald's restaurants, and 15 per cent pure rapeseed oil.

The company plans to remove the rapeseed oil as refinement improves.

By using the fuel, McDonald's will save 1,675 tonnes of carbon per year, the company said.

Source: TheGlobeandMail.com

Unfit for Chinese but Good for the Rest of Us?

One-fifth of products made in China for domestic consumption failed quality and safety standards, the Chinese government said, while a state newspaper stressed Wednesday the need to raise quality guidelines to meet international levels.

China's dismal product safety record - both within and outside its borders - has increasingly come under the spotlight in both the local and foreign media as its goods make their way through global markets. Major buyers such as the United States, Japan, and the European Union have pushed Beijing to improve inspections.

In the first half of 2007, 19.1 per cent of products made for domestic consumption were found to be substandard, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement posted on its website late Tuesday.

Canned and preserved fruit and dried fish were the most problematic, commonly because of excessive microorganisms and additives, the agency said.

Though the survey covered many different products, it focused on food, common consumer goods, farm machinery and fertilizers.

More than 93 per cent of products made by large enterprises met standards, while only about 73 per cent of products made by small enterprises met standards, the agency said. It did not say how it defined the size of the companies.

In an editorial Wednesday, China Daily newspaper said food exported by China sometimes did not meet standards of importing countries because of a difference in quality guidelines.

"This is not because the food itself was of low quality but because the standards we use may be lower," the editorial said.

"It is becoming increasingly urgent to raise the food safety standards to international levels."

Fears that China's chronic food safety problems were going global surfaced earlier this year with the deaths of dogs and cats in North America blamed on pet food containing Chinese wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine.

U.S. authorities have also turned away or recalled toxic fish, juice containing unsafe colour additives and popular toy trains decorated with lead paint. Chinese-made toothpaste has been banned by numerous countries for containing diethylene glycol, a toxic ingredient often found in antifreeze.

Source: CBC.ca

Chinese Snack Foods Recalled

A seasoning made with imported Chinese ingredients used on recalled U.S. snack foods sold in Canada was contaminated with salmonella, a company official said Tuesday.

The snack foods sickened dozens of people.

The seasoning, used on both Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks and Veggie Booty snack foods, tested positive for the bacteria, said Robert Ehrlich, president and chief executive of Robert's American Gourmet Inc. The "veggie" seasoning's ingredients came primarily from China, the company said.

Also Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture said it found a strain of the bacteria called salmonella Wandsworth in a Veggie Booty sample. The rare strain matched the genetic fingerprint of the type that made consumers ill in multiple states, Minnesota officials said in a release.

The Sea Cliff, N.Y., company recalled its Veggie Booty Snack Food last week after it was associated with 54 cases of salmonella poisoning in 17 states. Many of those infected reported eating Veggie Booty.

The company expanded the recall Monday to include Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks Snack Food, since it uses the same seasoning. Both baked products were sold across United States and Canada.

No other company product uses the spray-on seasoning.

The recall is only the latest in a growing series to involve Chinese-made products found to be tainted, defective or otherwise dangerous. In recent weeks, there have been recalls of Chinese tires, toy trains and toothpaste. The U.S. government also is blocking some Chinese farmed seafood imports because of widespread contamination by antibiotics and other drugs.

Ehrlich said he had been unaware of where the ingredients used in the seasoning originated. The products are made under contract; Ehrlich would not identify the manufacturer.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Source: CBC.ca

Ontario Water Governance

Look at everyday chemicals in water, Ontario told

Ontario must do more to investigate whether potentially dangerous chemicals in the water supply coming from everyday shampoos, soaps and pharmaceuticals pose a threat to people's health and the ecosystem, the province's environmental commissioner says.

There is a pressing need for the province not just to monitor the spread of such chemicals, but to spend millions on research and get on top of the threat posed by pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), Gord Miller said.

The chemicals showing up in water around the world come from:

• Run-off containing chemicals used on farms.
• Antibiotics or other discarded medication poured down the toilet or sink.
• Medication found in human waste.
• Run-off from antibacterial soaps and shampoos.

They travel through the septic system and can make their way back into source and drinking water because sewage treatment plants aren't equipped to get rid of them.

In her recent annual report on Ontario's drinking water, Environment Minister Laurel Broten highlighted PPCPs as an emerging threat, and said the province is doing a survey to find out how much of the chemicals are in the water.

But Miller — who warned about the threat of pharmaceuticals in his 2005 annual report — said that's not enough. The province should put millions into investigating the chemicals' impact on animals and their ecosystems to determine what they might do to humans, Miller said in an interview.

We tend to focus primarily on human health. That's important, but the alarms go off too late if you're already poisoning people."

It's an increasing problem that the province needs to get on top of, he added. "We have to spend some money now to find out what's going on."

The threat is only going to grow, Miller said. As the population continues to grow and baby boomers age, medication use will increase.

Maureen Carter-Whitney, research director with the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy, said scientists are still trying to determine just what impact pharmaceutical chemicals can have on both humans and animals.

Generally, she said, the chemicals are only found in the water in small amounts, but they are "always there."

Studies conducted in northwestern Ontario suggest the chemicals can contribute to infertility in animals, delayed reproductive development, and damage to the liver and kidneys.

The chemicals can also contribute to antibiotic resistance, Carter-Whitney said. "It's at the point where it's a threat, but it's a threat we need to start doing something about," she said.

"It's the whole notion of the precautionary principle. We don't want to wait another 20 years and realize we have a whole generation of infertile young men."

Jim Smith, the province's chief drinking-water inspector, said Ontario has one of the most sophisticated systems in the world to protect its drinking water. The system has been strengthened since the Walkerton tainted water tragedy of May 2000, when E. coli contamination caused seven deaths and thousands of illnesses.

$400K set for PPCPs projects

There are always emerging threats that the province is now required to publicly report on and investigate, he said. The government set aside $400,000 last year to fund 20 research projects examining PPCPs, and labs are now working on analyzing this set of chemicals, Smith said.

It will likely take the province up to five years to get a handle on the current science and act on it, he said.

"As chief inspector, do I feel that I'm being protected? Yes. Do I feel that the right steps are being taken? Yes," Smith said. "We're as current as any leading jurisdiction in the world."

The province is waiting for the federal government to develop standards on how much of these chemicals are acceptable in source and tap water. It is also conducting its own studies, including one that found some 50 different types of PPCPs in the Grand River just outside of Hamilton.

People can do their part as well to keep such chemicals out of the system in the first place by returning their old or unused medication to a pharmacy, which can dispose of it properly, Broten said.

Source: CBC.ca