Advisory

2000-30
March 31, 2000

Health Canada advises the public about unregistered silver ion releasing devices for pools and hot tubs

OTTAWA - Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is advising the public about the potential health hazards of using silver ion releasing devices to sanitize pools and hot tubs. These products claim to reduce or eliminate the need for chlorine or bromine for sanitizing pool or hot tub water. However, there are no silver ion releasing devices currently registered under the Pest Control Products Act for this purpose, and they cannot legally take the place of sanitizing products which contain chlorine or bromine.

The warm water in swimming pools and the hot temperature and low volume of water in hot tubs (also referred to as spas) provide a favourable environment for the growth of micro-organisms such as bacteria. Users may become sick if they are exposed to bacteria in pools and hot tubs. Only chlorine- or bromine-based sanitizers have been shown to reduce micro-organisms to safe levels.

A pest control product regulated by the PMRA will bear a label featuring a product registration number, eg., Registration No. 00000 Pest Control Products Act (PCPA), or contain the statement "scheduled under the Pest Control Products Act."

Under the Pest Control Products Act, all pest control products, including devices for the control of micro-organisms such as bacteria in pools and hot tubs, are regulated by Health Canada's PMRA. The Agency reviews applications for registration on the basis of scientific information to assess hazards to human health and the environment, as well as to judge product efficacy.

For further information on pool and spa sanitizers, please click on the Pest Notes section of the PMRA web site or contact the Pest Management Information Service at: 1-800-267-6315.

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Media inquiries:
Marc Richard
Health Canada
(613) 736-3573

Public inquiries:
(613) 957-2991