News Release

FREDERICTON (GNB) – A report on the use of glyphosate shows no unusual exposure to the herbicide in New Brunswick.

“Our review found no increased risk for New Brunswickers exposed to glyphosate in our province,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, acting chief medical officer of health. “We acknowledge that some uncertainty about glyphosate exists, but based on our review, exposures in New Brunswick are similar to or less than elsewhere.

“Providing that label requirements established by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency and provincial spray permits are followed, glyphosate should be safe for use.”

The Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health released the report today in Fredericton.

The scope of the report on glyphosate was to determine how other public health organizations across Canada intend to respond to the International Agency for Research on Cancer classification; to determine the overall contribution of regulatory agencies and other parties; and to research actual use patterns in New Brunswick and compare these to human exposure scenarios and human health risk assessments conducted by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency to determine if there are any significant differences that might warrant different advice or actions than what is required by the agency’s pesticide label.

The review found that other Canadian public health organizations have not taken any action to restrict the use of glyphosate in response to the classification; that regulatory agencies worldwide are still assessing glyphosate and their final positions will not be available before 2017; and that New Brunswick does have some different use patterns compared to the rest of the world, but exposures to glyphosate are expected to be similar to or less than elsewhere, so no additional actions to protect public health in New Brunswick are warranted at this time.