***This Action is limited to Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island residents—stay tuned for additional states to be included in a future update!
Considering widespread insecticide spraying for eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) spread by mosquitoes, Beyond Pesticides is calling on the Governor to adopt an ecologically-based mosquito management plan that acknowledges both the threat of EEE and health and environmental harm associated with pesticide exposure.
[In Massachusetts, the group calls the widespread aerial application of toxic substances antithetical to the state's current development of Biodiversity Conservation Goals, recognizing the cascading crises of biodiversity, public health, and climate change. The state is accepting public comments on the Goals until August 30.]
“Given the hazards associated with EEE and the pesticides used to combat infected mosquitoes, state and local officials must commit to a rigorous community-based education program to eliminate breeding sites and use of repellents,” said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides.
Spraying pesticides for adult mosquito control is the least effective method for managing these insects, according to mosquito management experts. Instead, communities, such as Boulder, Colorado, recognized the value of mosquito prevention programs in sync with nature. Beyond Pesticides advocates the adoption of a comprehensive mosquito prevention plan with the following elements:
1. Preventive actions that manage mosquitoes at their breeding sites;
2. Larviciding with biological materials;
3. Surveillance of insects to determine the threat of disease transmission;
4. Spraying for adult mosquitoes (adulticiding) as a last resort after documentation of previous actions and a finding that preventive actions and larviciding did not meet thresholds of managing infected mosquitoes, with a provision for residents to opt-out; and
5. Public disclosure and prenotification of spray schedules and pesticide formulations used.
This week, the Division of Crop and Pest Services in the MA Department of Agriculture announced that aerial spraying would begin in parts of Plymouth County and truck-based spraying in Worcester County on the evening of August 27, and several following days, after the presence of positive mosquito samples for a rare, yet dangerous, EEE. It has been four years since the last EEE detection led to seven deaths and 17 cases in the same counties, leading to the use of Anvil 10+10—a neurotoxic insecticide used in mosquito management.
While recognizing the public health threat and the need to act, advocates, beekeepers, farmers, and community leaders are deeply concerned at the lack of preventive measures and consideration of ecologically-based mosquito control.
According to an MDAR Crop and Pest Services 2019 summary report, spraying this product lasted 26 days, treated over 2,048,865 acres across the Commonwealth, and used 9,939 gallons on Anvil 10+10. The product was also applied by air in 2006, 2010, and 2012. The main active ingredients, sumithrin (synthetic pyrethroid insecticide) and piperonyl butoxide/PBO (synergist), have been linked to a range of adverse health effects in humans, including a higher risk of liver disease—which is a tragic irony given that the liver is the primary organ meant to filter out toxic residues including pesticides. These ingredients are also linked to cancer, confirmed neurotoxic and kidney damage, and threats to reproductive health and endocrine disruption.
Mosquito resistance is also a major concern. Recent studies, including one published in PLOS One earlier this month, found documented proof of resistance to the pyrethroid permethrin in Aedes aegypti in both Spain and Colombia, building on existing research finding pyrethroid resistance through permethrin in mosquito samples collected in Waltham, MA—the county next to Worcester.
As mentioned in a 2019 petition—led by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), LEAD for Pollinators, and Jones River Watershed Association—to the Commonwealth's Office of Inspector General, State Auditor, and Attorney General, “Agencies conducted three aerial spray events from September 10, 2019 through September 24, 2019, costing Massachusetts taxpayers over $2.2 million, despite the fact that they knew there were no mosquitoes out, and that spraying after the first week of September would result in low efficacy.”
Anvil 10+10 has also been under major scrutiny after the detection of “forever chemicals,” or PFAS in the products' containers, in a test commissioned by PEER and confirmed by the MA Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). [See here, here, and here for Beyond Pesticides' Daily News coverage.]
Sumithrin (d-Phenothrin) exposure can result in lung irritation and has been documented to cause asthmatic responses in those exposed. The label for Anvil 10+10 provides a box with a “Note to Physician: Contains petroleum distillate—vomiting may cause aspiration pneumonia.”
Anvil 10+10 is not a singular ingredient. It is a formulation that also contains piperonyl butoxide (PBO), a chemical listed as an active ingredient but is intended to perform the role of “synergist,” increasing the potency and toxicity of the active ingredient. EPA considers PBO a possible human carcinogen. In addition to the respiratory irritant sumithrin and the possible carcinogen PBO, Anvil 10+10 contains “other ingredients” that are not listed, yet comprise 80% of the product formulation.
All mosquitoes go through a complicated life cycle called “complete metamorphosis.” According to the American Mosquito Control Association, complete metamorphosis involves four distinct stages – egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The length of time each stage lasts depends on several variables, with temperature having the greatest impact. Eggs are laid in “rafts” on standing bodies of water. The eggs require one to two days in water before hatching into larvae. Larvae, or wrigglers, molt three times during ten to twelve days before pupating. Pupae, or tumblers, metamorphose over one to two days into adults. Adults emerge from their pupal cases approximately twelve to sixteen days after egg laying. A stepwise approach as referenced above considers reduction strategies for further reproduction of mosquitoes before spraying toxic pesticides due to the proliferation of adult insects becomes “necessary” for public health.
Mosquito-eating birds and organisms are under threat, including many well-known residents of our communities. Meanwhile, the world is experiencing an insect apocalypse. Recent research has found dramatic drops in overall insect abundance, with leading entomologists identifying steep declines in insect populations. Various studies have found reductions of up to a factor of 60 over the past 40 years—there were 60 times as many insects in some locations in the 1970s. Insect abundance has declined more than 75% over the last 29 years, according to research published by European scientists.
Insectivorous birds are an essential part of global food webs that bring balance to ecological communities, but birds are not the only insectivores to feed on mosquitoes. Animals who contribute to maintaining ecological balance by consuming mosquito larvae and adults include insects, spiders, fish, amphibians, and bats. All are threatened by pesticides.
Beyond Pesticides developed a Public Health Mosquito Management Strategy to advise decision makers and communities based on technical assistance provided by public health officials, environmental health groups, and mosquito control officers. On a personal level, you can nurture a safe haven for birds and other mosquito predators. And remember there are safer personal repellents [see How To Repel Mosquitoes Safely]. Spread the word to your neighbors on safer mosquito management with Beyond Pesticides' doorknob hanger: Manage Mosquitoes This Season without Toxic Chemicals.
>> Tell your Governor that emergency spray programs will continue unless they tackle the root causes of mosquito breeding and move to adopt ecological mosquito management to prevent the need for toxic pesticide spraying.
The Targets for this Action are the U.S. Governors of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the State of New Hampshire, and the State of Rhode Island. ***Additional states to be considered for future Action.
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