Ontario's Past Use of Herbicide 2,4,5-T Poses Health Risks to Workers, Expert Panel Says

摘要

The Ontario government's use in the 1950s to 1970s of 2,4,5-trichlorophoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T), a key element in the defoliant Agent Orange, poses a potential health risk to workers who regularly handled or applied the powerful herbicide, a government-appointed expert review panel concluded June 13. Occupational exposures for employees of the Canadian province's transportation and natural resources ministries and provincial utility Ontario Hydro likely exceeded safety benchmarks in some cases, the Independent Fact-Finding Panel on Herbicide 2,4,5-T said in its final report. However, the risk of those workers developing diseases commonly associated with 2,4,5-T exposure, particularly cancer, is likely "very low," the report said. "It is also important to note that an adverse effect will not necessarily occur, even in those cases where the [exposure] margins the panel estimated have exceeded the benchmark," it said.