Environment committee  Those were our 1996 numbers. Dr. Watson actually had some statistics with respect to dishwashers that indicate that it's probably gone up by 50% since then. So if nothing else has changed, it would now be 1.5% of the problem.

Environment committee  NTA, yes.

Environment committee  As I understand it, NTA was screened in for further assessment during the recent exercise based on human health effects, not on environmental effects. The concern there was that it could degrade to carcinogenic compounds.

Environment committee  I think it was suggested in the seventies that it was not as effective, so the concentration of NTA in detergents initially--in the late seventies, if memory serves--was as much as 25% by weight. I don't know that it's still used now. I think there are a variety of other things--

Environment committee  Well, our focus has been on trying to work on reducing the non-point source contributions from agriculture, because those are the largest sources that we know of, by far.

Environment committee  I want to clarify that we're talking about phosphates in automatic dishwasher products, not in the liquid products you use for hand washing. The liquid products used for hand washing do not contain phosphates.

Environment committee  There's nothing that we've rolled up at a national level.

Environment committee  There are none that I'm aware of right now. We are focusing on the agricultural sector as our priority.

Environment committee  I'm not sure.

Environment committee  My answer was related to the fact that within the government's tool bag are a number of things that can be done, short of banning something outright, to manage risks. That's what was done with road salts. The government did not ban road salts; road salts save people's lives in wi

Environment committee  I think he would generally be for reductions on phosphorus. I suspect that he would tell you, as I have, that the major source is agricultural sources. If we really want to reduce them, we need to--

Environment committee  The responses with respect to salt happened during the risk management phase and after risk assessment. Risk assessment put it on the list; risk management asks what we can do to mitigate those risks while we capture the benefits. I would put phosphorus in the same boat. It's e

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd first like to point out that I've been accompanied today by one of Environment Canada's scientists, Dr. Susan Watson, who is available for any detailed technical questions. Also, I believe you have a copy of my presentation, and in the interest of tim