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Home » About LEAS » Right to Know Labelling CampaignRight to Know Labelling CampaignToxic Free Canada was in the news this week with the launch of our national right to know labelling campaign. Our popular CancerSmart 3.0 Consumer Guide’s French version, entitled Diminuez les risques de cancer : guide du consommateur averti, was released in Montreal on April 15th to overwhelming media attention. You can order the guide from our Quebec partners Option Consommateurs at http://www.option-consommateurs This truly national campaign is supported by all the great publications and educational materials produced by LEAS since we formed in 1998. Our new voice, Toxic Free Canada, will provide on-going resources to help you protect yourself, your family and the environment from unwanted exposure to toxins. As one of the lead non-profit stakeholders to the Government of Canada’s Chemicals Management Plan, we have been standing up for your rights and asking for hazard ingredient labelling on consumer products. Here is some of the recent media coverage on this important issue:
British Columbia-based organization links baby lotions and shampoos to cancer and reproductive abnormalities Cite Libre Saturday April 19, 2008 A recent study that found elevated phthalate levels in infants after the use of baby lotions and shampoos highlights the need for ingredient labelling that identifies phthalates when they're in a product, the British Columbia-based Labour Environmental Alliance Society (LEAS) says. LEAS is the publisher of the CancerSmart Consumer Guide.
Griffin added that Canada should follow the lead of the EU and San Francisco, which have regulated the use of phthalates in products intended for children. Some phthalates, including dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di 2-ethyl hexyl phthalates (DEHP), have been linked to reproductive abnormalities in baby boys. LEAS executive director Mae Burrows, who attended a Health Canada consultation on product labelling, said the issue demonstrates the importance of hazard labelling. "People should have the right to know what the ingredients are and whether an ingredient has potential for harm," she said. The latest study, published in the February issue of Pediatrics, tested babies urine for the presence of nine different phthalates. They found levels of three specific phthalates that were associated with use of baby lotions and shampoos. Since phthalates are used to stabilize fragrances, parents should avoid fragranced products wherever possible as one way of reducing exposure, Griffin said. "But without labelling, it's hard to know." He also noted some manufacturers, including Burt's Bees and Avalon Organics -- both of which make baby products -- have committed to make products that are phthalate-free.
Advisory - Cancer & toxic chemicals: launch of a CancerSmart Guide Apr 18, 2008 - 06:05 EST OTTAWA, April 18 /CNW Telbec/ - If you or your child were being exposed to cancer causing toxic chemicals wouldn't you want to know? Find out where your toxic exposures are and learn how our right to know labelling campaign and publications help to create a toxic free Canada. The Labour Environmental Alliance Society (LEAS) will launch its new name - Toxic Free Canada - and its newest CancerSmart Guide at an event in Ottawa April 19. It will be one of three launch events across the country. The newest Guide - entitled Diminuez les risques de cancer : guide du consommateur averti - came off the press April 14. The 52-page publication is a French translation of CancerSmart 3.0, the third edition of the CancerSmart Consumer Guide, which has sold 35,000 copies across the country since it was first published in 2004. The French Guide includes a new chapter on Quebec's pioneering Pesticide Code. Guide author Sean Griffin will headline the Ottawa launch event, speaking on consumers' right to know and the CancerSmart Guide's role in reducing the use of toxic chemicals. Event details: Saturday, April 19, 2-3:30 p.m. Canadian Union of Public Employees 1375 St. Laurent Boulevard, Ottawa The launch will be hosted by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, at its Stan Little building, which was built to the highest green standard. CUPE has worked in partnership with LEAS on numerous projects over the past 10 years, including toxics elimination projects in several B.C. schools, and contributed to the Guide's publication. "Our members and many, many Canadians, especially those in schools, have benefited from the work that LEAS has done in the workplace and with consumers, so we welcome the opportunity to be part of this event," said Anthony Pizzino, health and safety director for CUPE. Ottawa's Arbour Environmental Shoppe will be hosting sales at the launch of both English and French editions of the Guide. For further information: Claudia Ferris, (604)328-8646 , communications(at)leas.ca; Sean Griffin, (604)785-6771 , seang(at)telus.net, www.leas.ca/ Radio-Canada.ca Mise à jour le mercredi 16 avril 2008 à 13 h 36 Cancer Attention aux produits domestiquesPlus d'info Audio et Vidéo La maison est remplie, à notre insu, de substances chimiques dangereuses pour la santé. Ces substances toxiques entrent dans la composition de certains produits de consommation courante. C'est le cas notamment des pesticides d'intérieur, des biberons en plastique, des shampoings, des ordinateurs portables, du détersif à lessive, des poêlons en téflon et des bouteilles d'eau en plastique. Les substances qu'ils contiennent peuvent causer le cancer. Un guide pour débusquer les agents cancérigènes Option consommateurs publie, conjointement avec la Labour Environmental Alliance Society, un guide qui propose aux consommateurs des solutions de rechange plus sécuritaires. Ce guide est intitulé Diminuez les risques de cancer: Guide du consommateur averti. Il a pour but d'aider les citoyens à reconnaître les ingrédients toxiques dans une multitude de produits domestiques. Le guide fournit:
Des chiffres qui donnent le frisson Dans les années 70, une personne sur cinq courait le risque de développer un cancer pendant sa vie. Aujourd'hui, un homme sur 2,3 et une femme sur 2,6 courent le même risque. C'est deux fois plus. Le guide de 51 pages proposé par Option consommateur a été vendu à plus de 30 000 exemplaires au Canada anglais. Option consommateurs et la Labour Environmental Alliance SocietyCréée en 1983, Option consommateurs est une association sans but lucratif vouée à la défense et à la promotion des droits des consommateurs. L'organisme s'est engagé dans une vingtaine de recours collectifs et s'intéresse aux questions reliées à l'énergie, à l'agroalimentaire, aux services financiers et aux pratiques commerciales. New and UpdatedCancerSmart 3.0July 30, 2010 Cleaners and Toxins January 28, 2010 FAQs June 5, 2009 Alliance building wins change on pesticides April 2, 2009 Bisphenol A and right to know November 25, 2008 Support LEASMake a donation |
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"Phthalates were not included when Health Canada's labelling regulations for personal care products became effective in November, 2006. They're not included in U.S. labelling, either," said LEAS Research Coordinator Sean Griffin. "But since then Europe has gone on to ban certain phthalates from products intended for children and has banned two phthalates from use in cosmetics. "At the very least, Canada should require that phthalates be identified when they're in a product, so that parents can make an informed choice in deciding whether or not to buy a product," he said. 
