|
 print-friendly
version
Some
Facts about Spraying
"West
Nile virus puts people's lives and livelihoods at stake.
Public health authorities who implement integrated mosquito
management techniques, including the spraying of insecticides
for control of adult mosquitoes, if needed, should be commended
for doing their job protecting the community's health."
- Allen James, RISE President
|
"
"The recent emergence and spread of mosquito-borne
diseases, such as West Nile virus, underscores the need
to recognize the vital contributions safe and effective
mosquito programs have made to the health of our nation's
citizens. If such diseases are to ever rise to epidemic
heights in the United States, we have only ourselves to
blame because the means to control them are fully within
out grasp - and our citizenry deserves no less."
- Joe Conlon, entomologist serving as technical advisor
for the American Mosquito Control Association
|
The
EPA's rigorous pesticide safety review process is designed to ensure
that registered mosquitocides used according to label directions
and precautions can further reduce disease-carrying mosquito populations,
thus protecting public health.
Adulticides
- Adulticides
are part of an integrated mosquito management (IMM) program and
are used only when necessary after other IMM measures such as
source reduction and larviciding have not reduced the biting mosquito
population.
- Adulticides
are used by licensed professional applicators who must follow
state and EPA requirements. The US EPA has evaluated adulticides
for their safety and has determined that they do not pose an unreasonable
risk to humans, animals or the environment if used according to
the product label directions.
- The
decision by communities or mosquito control organizations to use
pesticides to control adult mosquitoes is generally based on surveillance
information and documentation of West Nile virus activity. If
West Nile virus is found at levels that indicate a threat to human
health, local applications of pesticides may be undertaken to
prevent people from becoming infected.
- Overall,
adulticides are highly effective in killing mosquitoes. The effectiveness
of adulticides depends on a number of variables including which
species of mosquitoes are present; what pest control products
are used; when and how often pesticides are applied; weather conditions;
and the density of homes and streets in a community. Application
of adulticides is considered an effective means of temporarily
reducing adult mosquito populations and has been carried out in
the U.S. and other countries for many years for nuisance reasons
and more importantly, as a means of reducing and preventing mosquito-borne
diseases, such as West Nile virus.
- Depending
on the situation, mosquito control officials may safely apply
these insecticides from spray equipment mounted on trucks, airplanes
or helicopters. In the small amounts used, risks to people and
pets are extremely low. Application from aircraft may only be
performed according to Federal Aviation Administration regulations,
by county mosquito control commissions, equivalent county units
or the State Mosquito Control Commission. To insure the droplets
descend from the aircraft to the areas of mosquito activity, these
applications are made near sunset or in the early morning.
- To
be successful, mosquito control officials apply insecticides under
proper environmental conditions (e.g., temperature and wind) and
at the time of day when the target species is most active. Officials
apply these pesticides with carefully calibrated equipment that
generates the proper-sized insecticide droplets to impinge on
adult mosquitoes while they are at rest or flying. If the droplets
are too large, they will fall to the ground. If they are too small,
the prevailing winds will carry them away from the target area.
Once the insecticide spray mist dissipates, it breaks down in
the environment (generally within 24 hours) producing little residual
effect.
- New
technology is making mosquito control more precise, accurate and
safe. Mosquito control agencies are using Global Positioning Systems
(GPS) on fixed-wing aircraft to improve aerial applications and
more accurately target mosquito populations while reducing non-target
impacts. Lasers are being used to measure droplet size of insecticide
dispersed from aircraft, thus reducing the size of droplets dispersed
and the amount of insecticide sprayed. Night-vision goggles allow
pilots to treat mosquitoes during evening hours when they're most
active and give pilots a better visual perspective to accomplish
spray missions more efficiently.
- For
most members of the public, there is no need to relocate during
mosquito control spraying. Mosquito control pesticides have been
evaluated for this use and found to pose minimal risks to human
health and the environment when used according to label directions.
For example, EPA has estimated the exposure and risks to both
adults and children posed by ULV aerial and ground applications
of the insecticides malathion and naled. For all the exposure
scenarios considered, exposures ranged from 100 to 10,000 times
below an amount of pesticide that might pose a health concern.
These estimates assumed several spraying events over a period
of weeks, and also assumed that a toddler would ingest some soil
and grass in addition to dermal exposure. Other mosquito control
pesticides pose similarly low risks.
- Human
exposure in residential areas is also uncommon because of the
very low application rates, ultra low-volume methods (ULV), treatment
at night when people are indoors, pesticide applicator training
and, in most locations, public prenotification before application.
|
