Ontario should take the lead in getting cancer-causing chemicals in consumer products off the shelves, the province's NDP environment critic said Thursday.

Peter Tabuns said he is frustrated that the federal government is dragging its heels on labelling consumer products to prevent cancer, saying it's cheaper than treating it.

Ontario NDP MPP Peter Tabuns wants consumer product labels to list cancer-causing chemicals.
(CBC)

"We have a cancer crisis in our society," said Tabuns. "We need to attack it from a variety of angles, and one angle is to reduce people's exposure to toxic chemicals."

To that end, Tabuns is introducing the community right to know act. The act calls for Ontario to follow California, Vermont and Europe, which require the labelling of carcinogens in products such as laundry detergent, household cleaners and hair dye.

In California, the law has prompted manufacturers to reformulate products to get the cancer-causing agents out and replace them with non-cancerous materials.

If the act passes, it would be a first in Canada. The Canadian Cancer Society has called for this kind of labelling.

The act would require manufacturers to put a label on any product that contains a chemical known or suspected to cause cancer. It would also set up a website listing companies that release cancer-causing pollutants into the air or water.

Examples of chemicals that would require labelling include:

• Phthalates, a plastic softener used in nail polish, adhesives, caulking material and paint pigments.
• Silica found in household cleansers.
• NTA used in laundry detergent.
• Formaldehyde used in nail hardeners.

People should know what they're getting and be able to decide whether they want to expose themselves, Tabuns said, since the exposure is to low-levels of chemicals over the long term that may cause cancer and other diseases.

Opposition expected from manufacturers

Cancer survivor Fiona Nelson of Toronto has no family history of the disease and believes the rare form that attacked her kidney was environmentally triggered.

As chair of the Toronto Cancer Prevention Coalition, Carter supports initiatives such as Tabuns's bill.

"It just seems to me that information properly presented is people's democratic right to know," said Carter.

Ontario's health minister, George Smitherman, won't say whether he'll support the bill until he sees it, but believes labelling is important.

Carter acknowledged the bill will face opposition from manufacturers, but her response is "tough."

The government already has labelling legislation and bureaucracy to enforce the act, meaning the costs would be negligible, Tabuns said.