Friday, June 14, 2013

Report On Chemical Use Released

An expert panel says former Ontario government workers who were exposed to dangerous levels of a powerful herbicide from the 1950's to the 1970's face an elevated risk of disease.

The panel spent two years looking at the use of 2,4,5-T -- a dioxin-laced chemical found in Agent Orange.

It was used mostly by workers at Ontario Hydro, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Transportation to clear brush and vegetation.

Some former government workers who used the chemicals believe it is responsible for their cancers, but the panel did not make a direct link between elevated exposures and getting sick.