British Columbians' Views On Pesticide Restrictions

Vancouver, BC - A new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of the Canadian Cancer Society finds that a strong majority of British Columbians agree that cosmetic pesticides used in their community pose a threat to the environment (86% agree), children (81%), pets (81%), and their own personal health (76%). The definition of cosmetic pesticides given to survey respondents was "cosmetic pesticides are used to kill or control weeds, insects, fungi and pests in order to enhance the appearance of private and public lawns and gardens. For example, cosmetic pesticides may be used to get rid of weeds on the lawn or aphids on roses." Further, three-quarters (76%) of British Columbians would support their provincial government passing legislation that would restrict the use and sale of cosmetic pesticides (47% "strongly support").

Among those with a lawn or garden, nearly three-in-ten (29%) say that they or someone else applied pesticides to their home lawn or garden in the past twelve months. A total of 85% of those with a lawn or garden say they would be likely to try alternative practices instead of chemicals or pesticides if they were provided with the right information (64% "very likely").

Nearly all (99%) British Columbians agree that "consumers have the right to know the ingredients that are contained in the products they purchase" (95% "strongly agree"). Further, the overwhelming majority (97%) would support the provincial government passing legislation that would require companies and manufacturers to clearly label all of their products that contain substances that have been linked to an increased risk of some types of cancer (90% "strongly support").

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid telephone poll conducted on behalf of the Canadian Cancer Society and fielded between the dates of February 5 and 17, 2008. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 600 adult British Columbian residents. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 4.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult British Columbia population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual British Columbia population according to the 2006 Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Catherine Knaus
Associate Vice-President
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
(778) 373-5131
[email protected]

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