Parliamentary Office
Room 635?5

(WED) 17:45

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Center Block git? .
2:33;; - - 3%

iila??e
nmunity Of?ce HOUSE OF COMMONS
39 66 Street CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES
manger? Alberta CANADA
., 
:03) 495-6533
495-5?51 ROSS HARVEY
M.P., Edmonton East
TO: All News Media
FROM: Rose Harvey, M.P., Edmonton East
RELEASE: Immediate
DIOXIN QUESTION IN ORAL QUESTION PERIOD TODAY

 

The following is an unofficial Hansard "Blues" transcript of the
exchange in Oral Question Period today in the House of Commons
between Ross Harvey and the Deputy Prime Minister Don
Mazankowski.

This transmission consists of 5 pages.


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1440-2

.1. Oral Quescion??

CAPS
brev

Mr. Ross Harvey (Edmonton East): Mr. Speaker, in the
absence of the minister of health I would like to direct this
question to the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs.

Up to at least 1983 one of the most popular household and
institutional cleansers in Canada, Lysol, relied on the
Monsato?manufactured chemical, Santophen?I as its active
germicidal ingredient.

In the late 19705 Monsato found and then suppressed evidence of
the presence in Santophen?l of up to 65 parts per billion?Athat
is one thousand, seven hundred parts per trillion in Lysol


itself, of 2,3,7,8~tetrachlor ihenzodioxin??TCDD, the most
toxic form of dioxin known.
My question to the minister is did the government know, not

susPect, but know of the presence of TCDD in Santophen-I and,

hence in Lysol, and what steps did it take once it knew?

 . (WED) 5. 9?90 17:46 P. 3

4' 
o.l..0ral,Questions)

 

Hon. Don Hazankowski (Deputy Prime Minister, President of the



Privy Council and Minister of Agriculture): Hr. Speaker, I 

appreciate the hon. member's concern in matter. He was courteous


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. .- ~31
enough.t9 send maj? tine .Ltoa? pest I-oan. 

1.3.

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As.the hon: member knows, dioxin is a generic term'for about 70

members of a particular chemical family and as I am sure he also

I

..

knows that it was not until the late seventies or the early?

eighties that there was mechanisms to detect the presence of the

lat contaminant that he is refefr?ng to, namely Santophen.

I:
,v 

.r can assure the hon. nember.that it was essentially through

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Agriculture Canada and Health and Welfare Canada that we were

able to devise the kind of methodology to detect this. I can

adv - him that inso?ar as the use of this in Lysol, it became

disco: inued in the early'19605, shortly-after this was detected


as being a contaminant and harmful. Therefore, in the area of

the Lysol, it is no longer use-. I

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FROM mama - (WED) 5. MO 17:47 manganese P. 21

 
 
 

.1. Oral Hoestions)

[Mr. Ross Harvey (Edmonton East): Mr. Speaker, I am
pleaSed that the Deputy Prime Minister was able to make such good

use (9 the research with which I supplied him. He only got a

couple of points wrong. 

I should like however, to ask 'him% as Monsanto's Santophen?l



was only one of'the brands of 2?benzyl-4vehlorophenol in CanadaJ mad



?e Agriculture Canada lists 56 pest control products taining

the chemical and none have been tested by the government for









dioxin contamination, will the- government now move quickly??n0t







waiting for its current review to report {0 test all sources of

2?benzyl?ewchlorophenol available in Canada for contamination by



.. 4-w-

 .W - (WED) 5; 9:90 17:48 P. 5

1440-5

   

c.l- Oral Questions)

[Hon. Don Hazankowski (Deputy Prime Minister, President of

the'Privy Council and Minister of Agriculture): Mr. Speaker, I

'do_not want to get involved in an-argument with the hon. member
but it is not 56. There may be 10 that have this contaminant,
not 56. Those were grandfathered under the 1960 regime and they
are being analysed further. When the results of that will be
known appropriate action will be taken.

I think the other contaminant I think he refers to is namely,
The reason that that has not been able to be
detected is because it is in such minute quantities, that is less
than one part per billion. We do not have the mechanisms and the
machinery to detect that and as it would be so infinitesimally

111, it would probably not be harmful.



1445 follows

End of Take