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Stop Aerial Spraying in California

Tens of thousands California residents are being sprayed under the cover of night with pesticides containing partly unknown chemicals. These sprayings, conducted inadequate health studies, are done not to protect residents from a clear and present public health danger, but rather to protect special interests worried about eradicating the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).

The LBAM spray operations in Central Coast counties of Monterey and Santa Cruz resulted in over 600 reports of health illnesses. State authorities have not only failed to respond, but now plan new LBAM aerial spray operations in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Californians have a right to refuse aerial fumigation without proof of a clear and present public health danger. Any mandatory aerial spraying of chemicals must be shown to address a clear and present public health danger, and must be voted on and supported by the people in the area to be sprayed.

For more information, please visit www.stopthespray.org

Send Governor Schwarzenegger today!

November 21, 2009

Subject:

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

I respectfully request that you act immediately to stop all spraying of our communities with pesticides in the misguided attempt to eradicate the light brown apple moth. These pesticides have not been adequately tested for safety and may pose a serious danger to both human and animal health. I request that you meet with a group of citizens from our community to discuss this issue.

To date, according to the CDFA themselves, there are no reports of crop damage caused by this moth. Current estimates of potential moth damage are unsubstantiated, motivated not by facts, but by fear of “economic damage” from a possible federal quarantine. Such fear does not justify this invasive spraying, nor does it justify the false state of emergency declared by the CDFA to enable them to implement this spray program without due process and adequate health and safety testing.

Years after the government said DDT was a safe pesticide needed to control insects, we learned it contributed to cancers and harmed pregnant women, children, and the environment. DDT was later banned, but much damage was done. If we fail to learn the lessons of history, we will be condemned to repeat them.

The CDFA is guilty of disseminating misinformation. They say “Checkmate” has a 10-year safety record, but in fact little safety data has been gathered, with virtually no testing on aerial spraying applications. The CDFA says inhalation studies aren’t needed because the microcapsules used in the spray are no smaller than 25 microns. However, a lab at UC Davis found them to be as small as 10 microns, a size the American Lung Association says damages the lungs. The pesticide mix included Tricaprylyl Methyl Ammonium Chloride despite CDFA denials that it contained surfactants. Surfactants in pesticides may harm human respiratory systems and sea birds. After the first round of spraying, there were over 650 reported health complaints; many symptoms were consistent with small particulate inhalation and surfactant exposure. Dead birds started showing up the day after the spray (total estimated at 750-2300) and many were covered with surfactant.

Given their misinformation about “Checkmate,” how can we have any confidence that the new formula they intend to use has a safety record based on sound science? Safety studies are critically needed in advance. This long-term spray plan is unethical and contrary to accepted safety practices worldwide.

Many biologists and farmers say aerial spraying will not eradicate the moth, and they recommend a focus on control. Spraying is outdated, unsustainable, and expensive. Permethrin to be used in ground spraying is suspected to be carcinogenic and toxic to humans and animals. Less toxic methods, such as sticky traps, and investigation into native LBAM predators (e.g. native wasps and airwigs) must be given priority.

Governor Schwarzenegger, current CDFA spraying is in sharp contrast to your commitment to make California a leader in environmental sustainability. I ask you to please act immediately to implement an ecologically sustainable LBAM control program that is safe for both human health and the environment.
Thank you for this opportunity to share my concerns with you.

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Stop Aerial Spraying in California