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By
Lynn Landes
I'm reminded of
the 1950's...TV newscasts showing clouds of DDT sprayed on
a clueless public, compromising their health and contaminating
the environment for decades to come, as Rachel Carson writes
"Silent Spring."
But the time is
now, other toxic pesticides have joined the ranks in our wayward
war against mosquitoes, and the Rachels of today are drowned
out by a media rushing to sound the alarm, rather than report
the news.
And the news is
- pesticides pose a much greater
health hazard than the West Nile virus.
DEET, Anvil, and
other toxic pesticides are aggressively promoted to protect
the public from a mosquito bite that appears to be, statistically,
less dangerous than a dog bite or bee sting. And the CDC seems
to agree. On its website it says, "Human illness from
West Nile virus is rare, even in areas where the virus has
been reported. The chance that any one person is going to
become ill from a mosquito bite is low."
Since 1999 only
a handful of deaths per year have been associated with West
Nile, even though the virus has been found in 33 states.
The fact that this
"health crisis" has been exaggerated, and that chemical
spraying is usually the least effective yet most toxic way
to control mosquitoes, has deterred some state officials,
but not others.
The New York State
Health Department backed away from recommending wholesale
spraying after finding that more people got sick from the
pesticides than from the virus. However, Louisiana has just
asked for $17 million in federal aid, and Mississippi is following
suit. There's no word yet on how the money is to be allocated,
but rest assured the pesticide companies stand to benefit.
Meanwhile, some
citizen groups are taking matters into their own hands. The
No Spray Coalition is suing New York City to stop pesticide
spraying in their neighborhoods.
There's a good
deal of information on government and other websites about
the toxic effects of pesticides, but a comprehensive picture
of the specific pesticides and issues involved in the West
Nile campaign is well laid out in a report called "Overkill:
Why Pesticide Spraying for West Nile Virus May Cause More
Harm Than Good" by the Maine Environmental Policy Institute
(MEPI) and the Toxics Action Center.
In short, they
report that these pesticides offer a toxic legacy: short-
and long-term respiratory problems, immune and nervous system
disruption, cancer, and reproductive and learning disorders.
That covers just about everything you'd never want to get.
The "Overkill"
report also emphasizes the association between outdoor pesticide
sprays and neurological damage, stating, "A report of
pesticides and childhood brain cancers published in Environmental
Health Perspectives (a publication of the National Institutes
of Health) revealed a strong relationship between brain cancers
and pyrethroids used to kill fleas and ticks." Anvil,
a pyrethroid, is a popular pesticide used by state agencies
to control mosquitoes.
The use of DEET
in mosquito repellents is extremely troubling. DEET has been
associated with seizures and several cases of toxic encephalopathy
(encephalitis) in children, including three deaths, according
to the Extension Toxicology Network at Cornell University.
The battle against
West Nile is supposed to prevent a virus that can cause encephalitis.
It appears the cure can cause the
disease. That would be ironic, if it weren't so tragic.
Dr. Mohamed Abou-Donia,
a research scientist at Duke University Medical Center, whose
studies have established a link between DEET and neurological
damage in animals, warns parents in a recent Environmental
News Service article, "Never use insect repellents on
infants, and be wary of using them on children in general.
Never combine insecticides
with each other or use them with other medications. Even so
simple a drug as an antihistamine could interact with DEET
to cause toxic side effects. Don't spray your yard for bugs
and then take medications. Until we have more data on potential
interactions in humans, safe is better than sorry."
Meanwhile, state
and federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), are
encouraging the public to use mosquito repellents containing
DEET. Although the CDC warns parents to avoid applying repellent
on children less than 2 years old, the EPA and other state
agencies are not giving that caution.
The EPA instead
advises, "Do not allow children to handle the products,
and do not apply to children's hands. When using on children,
apply to your own hands and then put it on the child."
Have these people
ever met a child? Children touch everything and everybody,
including themselves. And then they put their pudgy little
fingers directly into their mouths.
While the battle
plan's objective is to target the mosquitoes that carry West
Nile, the strikes won't be 'precision' and the collateral
damage could be vast. Pesticides and larvicides can impact
fish, insects, animals, and humans. And although the public
has been told to lather up with DEET, spray pesticides, and
eliminate standing water, little has been said about using
select plants, birds, bugs, fish, and amphibians - gifts of
nature that help control mosquitoes.
It seems we're
traveling in a deadly circle. Spraying for West Nile, while
we're gassing ourselves. Falling for a health scare, when
the real scare is the alleged cure. And the real cure can
be found in the natural world we're attacking.
Welcome to the
1950's. Rachel must be rolling in her grave.
CommonDreams.org
August 12, 2002
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