Government Of Canada Protects The Health And Environment Of Canadians

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, and Canada's Environment Minister, the Honourable Jim Prentice, announced the release of the draft assessments and risk management scopes for 18 chemical substances included in Batch 4 of the Chemicals Management Plan.


"We are pleased to release the draft risk assessments for this fourth batch of substances under the Chemicals Management Plan," said Minister Aglukkaq. "The Government of Canada is committed to protecting the health of Canadians, and today we are taking another important step in that regard."


"We are committed to moving forward with the Chemicals Management Plan, which is a key component of the government's environmental agenda and builds on Canada's world-leading work in completing the categorization of these legacy chemicals," said Minister Prentice. "We take the protection of the environment and the health of Canadians seriously."


Of the 18 substances that were assessed in this batch, four may be of concern to human health (butane and isobutane containing more than 0.1% 1,3-butadiene; dimethyl sulfate; and diethyl sulfate) and one may be harmful to the environment (benzenamine). The remaining 13 substances do not pose a risk to human health or the environment.


Out of these 13 substances, five could harm the environment if they were widely used. As a result, Significant New Activity provisions are being proposed to manage the risks associated with these five substances. These provisions will prevent these substances from being used in the future without undergoing a new series of assessments.


Notices containing summaries of the draft screening assessment reports will be published in Canada Gazette, Part I on January 24, 2009. The complete draft screening assessments, as well as risk management documents for all Batch 4 substances, can be found on the Chemicals Management Plan website. Interested parties can submit comments on these documents until March 25, 2009.


The Government of Canada is committed to meeting the five-year timeline that was announced in 2006 for completion of work under the Chemicals Management Plan. The original sequence of batches outlined for Challenge substances will be continued and the regular spacing between releases of information will also continue to allow stakeholders enough time to review and analyze the information. All associated dates will be updated on the website.


Health of Canada