They're About To Spray Me
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They're About To Spray Me
Date:
Tue, 13 Aug 2002 12:08:01 -400
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Brian J. Foster <bfoster@swlaw.com>
cc: Christine Whitman
whitman.christine@epa.gov
ORead Daily, August 12, 2002
<redpoet@swbell.net>
Volume 2002.139
THEY'RE ABOUT TO SPRAY ME
Okay, now this is getting personal. Already there is talk in my humble burg about spraying us all to "protect" us from West Nile Virus. I'm not real excited about the prospect of airborne pesticides coming to my neighborhood to save me from a disease that is almost never serious. After all though West Nile is big news in the media, eight deaths in a nation of hundreds of millions is hardly devastating. The only human epidemic of West Nile Virus infection that has been well-studied occurred in Romania in the late summer of 1996. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assisted in the evaluation and control of that epidemic. In that epidemic an estimated 94,000 people were infected by the virus, of whom about 400 (.4%) developed clinically apparent encephalitis confirmed by virological studies. Fifteen of those people, almost all over the age of 65, died. Thus, even if one is bitten by an infected mosquito, the risk of suffering disease is very low and the risk of dying much lower. Moreover, in Africa where West Nile Virus has been recognized for more than sixty years and where it is widespread, there have been very few human epidemics. Quite simply, most mosquitoes are not infected with West Nile Virus Most mosquito bites will not lead to a West Nile. Most individuals infected with West Nile virus will not have any symptoms or signs of illness. People who do develop illness may experience mild symptoms such as fever, headache, and body aches; occasionally a skin rash and swollen lymph glands may be noticed. Less than 1% of persons infected with the virus will develop more severe disease with symptoms such as high fever, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, paralysis, and, rarely, death (Granted you don't want to be one of the 1% and if you are it don't much matter about the other 99%).
Cuba virtually eliminated the threat of mosquito born dengue fever without any spraying, rather following public health measures like getting the population out ridding their areas of standing water, old tires, and other breeding grounds. Washington DC said no to spraying and is sending health workers door to door with information on how to make the neighborhoods more safe.
Me, I don't want to be sprayed with poison. Although often described as safe, malathion poses a greater risk than the product label would lead one to believe. Malathion belongs to a class of chemicals, organophosphates, developed in World War Two as nerve gas. Shown to be mutagenic, a possible carcinogen, implicated in vision loss, causing myriad negative health effects in human and animal studies, damaging to nontarget organisms, and containing highly toxic impurities, malathion has a legacy of serious problems. For example, a study after aerial sprayings of malathion over human populations in California carried out in the early 90s found that children who had been exposed to malathion during the second trimester of pregnancy were showing over two and one-half times more gastrointestinal disorders (affecting the stomach and small intestines) in comparison to children not exposed to malathion during pregnancy.
Sumithrin is another favorite often used to kill the little blood suckers. Sumithrin is a type I pyrethroid insecticide. Like malathion, sumithrins are nerve poisons. Inhaling sumithrin insecticides can cause coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, runny or stuffy nose, chest pain, or difficulty breathing. Skin contact can cause a rash, itching, or blisters. It can cause skin and eye irritation. Rats fed high doses (1,000 milligrams per kilogram of body weight or mg/kg) of pyrethrins (natural versions of pyrethroids) showed liver damage. There is also evidence that pyrethroids can harm the thyroid. Pyrethroids, including sumithrin, have been shown in the lab to disrupt the endocrine system by mimicking the effects of the female sex hormone estrogen. In men, endocrine disrupters can lower the sperm count, and in women they can cause the growth of abnormal breast cells. The half-life of sumithrin in soil is one day to sixteen weeks, depending on the type of soil.
Perhaps what is more disturbing about malathion (sumithrin, and other pesticides as well) is not what is actually known about the health effects from the chemical, but rather, what is not known. Understand that although chemical companies spend millions of dollars and several years testing their chemicals, the testing protocols they use are dangerously incomplete. The EPA does not test malathion. EPA only sets up the guidelines for the testing. The chemical companies then conduct their own tests and submit the results to EPA for review. In fact, there have been occurrences in the past, such as with Industrial Bio-Test Labs, in which falsified and fraudulent data was submitted to EPA. Remember, there is extreme financial gain to be made from registration of a chemical.
Sources: No Spay Coaliton, Journal of Pesticide Reform, New Living Magazine, Epidemiology, North American Butterfly Association, Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, Safe 2 Use
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New York City: The No Spray Coalition and Sierra Club invites you to
participate in a press conference in opposition to the indiscriminate
spraying of pesticides:
Thursday, August 15 - 1 pm - City Hall steps, Manhattan
(please come a little bit early to get through security)
We are inviting all public officials and candidates for office to speak
who OPPOSE the spraying, as well as several activists and other excellent
speakers (including YOU!) to help inform the public and media about the
horror being inflicted upon us. STOP THE SPRAYING!
No Spray Coalition
Hotline: (718) 670-7110
www.nospray.org
If you would like to be included in our mailing list for continuing information on pesticides, please email us at list@safe2use.com.