Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to address this issue tonight.
On May 8, I asked a question about sunscreens that use harsh chemicals such as oxybenzone and Benzophenone-3, which dermatologists and researchers say can cause severe skin reactions in adults and children. This actually happened to two of my constituents who filed a complaint with me in this regard.
I asked the Minister of Health to assure Canadians that their sunscreen will protect them from the sun and that it is safe to use. The minister's answer was that the government was promoting the health and safety of Canadians through the chemicals management plan, that it would be monitoring the chemicals on a regular basis and that it does act appropriately when complaints occur. However, that was the end of his answer. It did not really give my constituents the satisfaction that they sought.
I would like to follow up on that by asking the minister whether the government issues warnings or cautions, medical or otherwise, and, if it does not, why it does not. I also would like to know whether any tests have been done on this particular type of sunscreen or a variety of sunscreens that have these particular chemicals in them, and more I might add.
I also would like to ask if there have been any other complaints about this particular brand or any other brand containing these chemicals and whether there are any safe alternatives. In reading the literature out there, I understand there are some safe alternatives but, once again, companies have products to sell and I do not know whether there is proof of what they are saying.
I would like to know if there are any other complaints and whether there have been any settlements made.
In doing some of our research on this matter, my office looked up data that indicated that despite increased education in this particular area, the Skin Cancer Foundation said that more than 600,000 new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year and that the figure was rising. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States and is responsible for 8,500 deaths annually.
The member will be aware that one of the members of this House died of skin cancer a number of years ago and that one member, who just recently retired from this House, was diagnosed with skin cancer.
This is a very big area that we should be looking at here because all of us, at some point, are exposing ourselves to the sunscreens. I could read a list of the types of chemicals that are involved, in addition to the ones I have listed. I would just like a deeper response than what I got that day to my question as to how on top of this issue the government is, where it is now and where it is planning to be on this in a year or two.