Pesticide use in Canada has skyrocketed over the past two decades. Pesticide manufacturers sold Canadians more than 130 million kilograms of pesticides in 2021, a fivefold increase from 2005, a new analysis has found. The findings come amid growing alarm about the human health harms and environmental impacts of pesticides. …For instance, last month American researchers found that glyphosate can increase the risk of neurological disease. Health experts have also linked widely-used neonicotinoid insecticides to reproductive harms and other health issues, while their harm to insects prompted a European ban in 2018. …The Ecojustice study found a silent surge in use of the products, driven by a combination of the widespread use of crops that are genetically modified to resist herbicides; using pesticides as a preventative measure against pests instead of as targeted treatments; and forestry practices that rely on spraying forests with herbicides to kill off unwanted plants.