City council will be seeking the advice of the territory's medical health officer before it responds to a proposal on banning vermiculite from community gardens, pre-schools and any area where children are close to the garden in the city.

Linda Bonnefoy, a gardener who oversees a pre-school gardening program, called on council for the ban at its meeting Monday night.

"I am asking mayor and council to consider the health of our children," she said after recalling her own experience learning of the dangers of the mineral.

Bonnefoy learned while studying for her masters gardener certification through the University of Alaska that vermiculite could be used in organic gardens.

An organic grower, Bonnefoy had only used local compost in her garden until she opted to try out vermiculite and hired two master gardeners to assist with her program.

Without reading the back of the bag, they began working with it.

"The back of the bag insists that if you're going to be using vermiculite, it's a toxic substance and you need a respirator mask, ventilated area, eye goggles, hands wear and your whole body needs to be completely attired," she said, showing council the bags she bought.

Bonnefoy noted it also states the material is toxic and should be kept out of reach from children.

The gardeners she hired had never seen anything like it on the back of a bag of material used for gardening, she said.

"You can understand my horror when I came across the bag and I saw this on the back label," she said, adding that over the long term, there can be respiratory problems in working close to vermiculite.

"Everybody was alarmed that we had actually exposed children to this," she said.

Trade agreements with the United States and Mexico prevent the substance from being banned at the federal level, she said. However, municipalities such as Kamloops, B.C. have passed their own bans on fertilizers and pesticides in community gardens and in growing food with children.

From a sustainability perspective, it's important to grow food locally and to know what's going into the soil, Bonnefoy said, praising the city for its sustainability plan.

She also found that growing with vermiculite required a lot more watering than it did when she used compost.

Following her presentation, Mayor Bev Buckway asked that administration note the name of the product and send a letter to medical health officer Brendan Hanley for an opinion on it.

Hanley is away and could not be reached for comment this morning.

As Bonnefoy noted last night, despite the warnings on the bag, Health Canada still deems it a safe product and it can be used in certified organic gardens.

"But you have to have a respirator mask on when you're handling this, especially with little children, and it's long-term exposure," she said.

Councillors Dave Austin and Dave Stockdale were absent from last night's meeting, with Coun. Jan Stick attending by conference call.