Monday, March 16, 2015

Pesticides health advocate appointed to watchdog committee


Erica Phipps of Ottawa has been appointed to a three-year term on the Pesticides Advisory Committee which reports to Glen Murray, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change.

The committee advises the government on pesticides policies.

Phipps is executive director of the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment, a multi-sectoral collaboration of organizations that are working together to protect children's health from environmental exposures to toxic chemicals and pollutants.

She has worked on environmental health and toxics issue for almost 20 years, including for the United Nations, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Montreal-based North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, and as an environmental health consultant for various clients including Health Canada and the World Health Organization.

Phipps holds a Master's degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan, where she specialized in environmental health and public policy.

It would be fun to be a fly on the wall in the room when Phipps and farmers tangle over pesticides policies, including neonicitinoids.