What you Should Know

What is a Pesticide?

Pesticides are substances used to kill unwanted organisms - herbicides kill plants, fungicides kill fungi, insecticides kill insects. A pesticide is a broad term that includes any or all of these substances. Pesticides are not magic bullets. They can harm organisms other than those they target, for example, by poisoning soil organisms that benefit all plants, or by irritating the eyes and skin of your children and pets.

Health Effects of Pesticides

Symptoms of pesticide poisoning are sometimes misdiagnosed as flu or allergies. Poisoning happens when pesticide residues are inhaled or absorbed through the skin. If you can smell it, it's in your body. Children and pets are particularly at risk from lawn chemicals because they play and roll around on lawns.

Long term consequences include lowered fertility, increased risk of cancer, birth defects and problems with the immune system. Children develop leukemia six times more often when pesticides are used around their homes, reports the US National Cancer Institute.

Think Safety

It's important to follow the directions on the label for all yard care products. Products should be applied under the correct weather conditions and in the correct quantities: more is not better.

Let your neighbours know when you have applied yard care products. Fertilizers or treatments such as lime can irritate the eyes and skin of pets and children. Ask your neighbours to let you know when they are applying yard care products.

Disposing of Pesticides in Revelstoke

Never put pesticides down the drain, they are poisons!

• The Columbia Shuswap Regional District has a special spring cleanup day when pesticides are accepted at the Revelstoke landfill - watch for newspaper advertisements.
• The nearest depot that will accept pesticides on a regular basis is Bill's Bottle Depot in Salmon Arm: 250-832-6630.
• Call the BC Consumer Product Stewardship program for information: 1-800-505-0139.

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