The federal government has released a draft list of more than 30 chemicals and groups of substances that it wants to prioritize in risk assessments that Canadians encounter every day.
This announcement is part of a series of measures that Health Canada and Environment Canada are introducing as they review the country’s foundational environmental laws.
In 2023, Parliament passed an update to the decades-old Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). This law is one of the country’s key environmental laws. It gives the federal government broad powers to deal with pollution that pollutes our air, water, and land.
On Friday, the government released a draft framework setting out which chemicals would be prioritized for assessment.
Ahead of the list’s release, federal Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault said Wednesday that when CEPA was first introduced in 1999, only 23,000 chemicals in use in Canada were covered by the regulatory regime. said.
“Currently, up to 10 million new compounds are produced every year. Our science must keep pace with the global chemical market,” he said.
Some of the chemicals and substances on the federal government’s priority list include styrene (used in the manufacture of various plastic products) and octocrylene, which is found in sunscreen.
The changes to CEPA also mean that the federal government recognizes the need to pay special attention to communities and jobs that are disproportionately affected by pollution.
The proposed priority list targets chemicals used by some of these groups. Also on the list are organic flame retardants commonly used by firefighters.
“Scientists will also take a closer look at certain chemicals used in flame retardants that may increase the risk to humans,” Guilbeault said. “This is what firefighters want.”
Also on the list is naphthenic acid, a compound associated with oil sands operations.
Naphthenic acids are found in oil sands tailings ponds used by mining operations in northeastern Alberta and elsewhere. These giant ponds collect byproducts from oil sands mining operations: a mixture of water, sand, residual asphalt, and other hydrocarbons that the industry calls “treated” water.
Placing substances on the priority list does not mean they are harmful to Canadians, but it does mean that federal authorities will prioritize determining whether those substances are toxic. If this happens, governments can take steps under CEPA to address or even ban its use.
Environmental groups are calling on the government to move from proposals to actual regulations that protect Canadians.
“Leading environmental, health and justice organizations are concerned that improvements to the law will be undermined by delays,” said a joint statement released by Ecojustice, a Canadian environmental law charity.
“Without this regulation, it is unlikely that the substances that pose the greatest risks to human health will be banned.”
