OTTAWA - The federal government is putting another half a billion dollars into its chemicals management strategy -- the program that separates safe from toxic chemicals in many consumer and business products.
Environment Minister Peter Kent and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq say the money will go toward assessing the safety of plastics and researching substances such as bisphenol A, flame retardants, and chemicals suspected of affecting hormones.
The government will also finance a study of the long-term effects of exposure to environmental chemicals on infants, children and pregnant women, government documents say.
The $508 million in new funding is spread over five years.
The government had initially invested $300 million in 2006, but that funding has now run out.
"Canadians want to have confidence in the products they use every day, and reassurance that they are not harmful to the environment," Kent said in a news release.
The management plan screens new chemical products for their safety, but also goes back in time to look at the safety of older manufactured products.
That's because some older products were made with chemicals that are now banned in Canada.
Scientists and industry involved in the plan monitor and regulate chemicals in clothing, food, cosmetics, drugs, pesticides and other products -- and they've won widespread praise for their work.
Government documents say it was the chemicals management plan that allowed Canada to be the first country in the world to take action on bisphenol A in baby bottles.
The plan also isolated 22 toxic substances in cosmetics.
