Deena Dlusy-Apel

Toxic Trespass, screened on Saturday night at the Prevent Cancer Now conference, was definitely a highlight. This film addresses the growing public awareness of how our environment impacts the health and development of our children, and asks what we can do to protect ourselves. The film will soon be shown in Montreal.

The NFB describes Toxic Trespass as “intrepid filmmaker Barri Cohen’s… investigation into the chemical soup around us. She starts with her ten-year-old daughter, whose blood carries carcinogens like benzene and the long-banned DDT. Then Cohen heads out to Windsor and Sarnia, Canadian toxic hotspots, with startling clusters of deadly diseases.

Here, everyone seems to know children who have suffered respiratory illnesses, leukemia, brain tumors, and other illnesses. And on the Native reserve of Aamjiwnaang, ringed by Sarnia’s ‘chemical valley’ the film reveals a startling birth rate problem that officials just can’t ignore.

Cohen journeys into the toxic nightmares all too common in industrialized countries. She meets passionate activists working for positive change, along with doctors and scientists who see evidence of links between environmental pollution and health problems. And she learns how quickly barriers can go up when anyone tries to even ask questions about the connection between toxins and serious health problems.

Perhaps most appalling – and funny, in their own twisted way – are the roadblocks Cohen encounters when she tries to get information from federal officials. One tells her his department is ‘planning to discuss the plans.’

This moving documentary is empowering and leavened with wry humor. Carried by Cohen’s passion for truth and her disarming openness, it is essential viewing for anyone concerned about the effects of pollutants on our – and our children’s – very DNA.”

Toxic Trespass is accompanied by a comprehensive guidebook for educators, activists and concerned citizens, produced by the Women's Healthy Environment Network. Dorothy Goldin Rosenberg, one of the producers of this film, was the principal research consultant and associate producer of the powerful documentary Exposure: Environmental Links to Breast Cancer.