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Government departments propose listing the chemicals as toxic under Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
Toxic “forever chemicals” are being found in the blood of Canadians — and even higher levels are being found in northern Indigenous communities — says a new report from the government of Canada.
Health Canada and Environment Canada have released a draft assessment of the science on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Both departments propose listing the human-made chemicals as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA).
Canadians have until mid-July to weigh in on the proposed change to CEPA.
Listing a substance as toxic under CEPA is the first step toward the government enacting regulations to ban it, as Ottawa did with single-use plastic items.
Studies show PFAS can harm human health and wildlife. Some of the chemicals accumulate in the liver and kidneys.
Because PFAS break down very slowly, living things are exposed to them repeatedly and PFAS blood levels can build up over time.
PFAS can be found in various consumer products — cosmetics, diapers, menstrual products, food packaging, carpets, furniture and clothing. But while many of these products are considered disposable, PFAS chemicals hang around.
“Only diamonds should be forever — not human-made substances that are polluting our environment,” said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in a tweet.
“We must do all that we can to protect the health and safety of Canadians and our environment,” said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.
The government defines PFAS as a class of more than 4,700 human-made chemicals — a list that keeps growing.
The government report states humans are also exposed to “forever chemicals” through the air they breathe, in dust and in drinking water.
Sustainable packaging contains harmful chemicals: study
New research has found that some packaging that’s touted as environmentally friendly contains high-levels of PFAS chemicals that can be damaging to the environment and human health. PFAS are hard to break down and have been linked to multiple different types of cancer.
The “extremely persistent” chemicals are found across Canada and even in the remote Arctic, the report said.
PFAS are also used in firefighting equipment like flame-retardant foam and in vital components in electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels.
“[PFAS] contribute to clean energy and emissions reduction,” said Danielle Morrison, a policy manager for the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada.
The association said its members will follow the science but it cautions against banning PFAS that are essential and for which no alternatives exist.
PFAS can be passed to fetuses: report
Aside from finding traces of PFAS in the blood of Canadians, Health Canada and Environment Canada’s review showed pregnant moms can transmit these substances through the placenta. Infants, it found, can be exposed to PFAS through breast milk.
The report said that, internationally, firefighters are among the groups known to face increased exposure to PFAS. In Canada, it said, another population is at risk.
“Northern Indigenous communities (as measured in adults, including pregnant women), as well as Indigenous youth and children in other parts of Canada were found to have elevated levels of certain PFAS,” the government report said.
“Effects commonly reported in animal studies include effects on the liver, kidney, thyroid, immune system, nervous system, metabolism and body weight, and reproduction and development,” the report found.
It said outcomes are similar in human epidemiological studies.
“There has been enough exposure to PFAS long enough that we are finding adverse effects in the human population,” said Miriam Diamond, a professor at the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto.
Diamond, who studies how PFAS enter the environment, said Canada is “conducting an experiment in real-time on the health of our population.”
It’s time to ban non-essential PFAS, she said.
Canada already restricts some PFAS, but an environmental group said Canada is taking a piecemeal approach and needs to go further.
“It’s really important that we cut this off at the source and stop trying to do the small pieces,” said Cassie Barker, a senior program manager of toxics at Environmental Defence.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Thurton is a senior reporter in CBC’s Parliamentary Bureau. He covers daily politics in the nation’s capital and specializes in environment and energy policy. Born in Canada but raised in Trinidad and Tobago, he’s moved around more times than he can count. He’s worked for CBC in several provinces and territories, including Alberta and the Northwest Territories. He can be reached at david.thurton@cbc.ca
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