Post by kathy on Aug 20, 2005 1:37:21 GMT
It's just after dusk when three municipal pickup trucks, orange lights flashing, begin their slow roll through a quiet neighborhood, pumping out a fog of sweet-smelling pesticide.
Agency Director David Brown ordered airplanes to blanket 71,000 acres of northern Sacramento County with 765 gallons of the pesticide known as pyrethrin and an activation agent called Piperonyl butoxide. The mixture is compressed into a fine mist and released. Mosquitoes that cross its path experience instant paralysis and drop dead.
Opponents criticized the short notice. Some said aerial spraying isn't proven to be effective and worry that the long-term risks of the pesticide haven't been fully studied.
"They dispense pesticides on my property against my will," said Jennifer Delugach, 33, an expectant mother with two young children. "I know they're not tested on children, and what's safe for an adult male is not necessarily safe for a child."
www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050819-1409-wst-westniespraying.html
Additional information:
Piperonyl butoxide with pyrethrins
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002589.html
Pyrethrum
www.safe2use.com/poisons-pesticides/pesticides/pyrethrum/pyrethrum-about.htm
Pyrethrins and Pyrethroids
www.safe2use.com/poisons-pesticides/pesticides/pyrethrum/pys-tvedten.htm
Agency Director David Brown ordered airplanes to blanket 71,000 acres of northern Sacramento County with 765 gallons of the pesticide known as pyrethrin and an activation agent called Piperonyl butoxide. The mixture is compressed into a fine mist and released. Mosquitoes that cross its path experience instant paralysis and drop dead.
Opponents criticized the short notice. Some said aerial spraying isn't proven to be effective and worry that the long-term risks of the pesticide haven't been fully studied.
"They dispense pesticides on my property against my will," said Jennifer Delugach, 33, an expectant mother with two young children. "I know they're not tested on children, and what's safe for an adult male is not necessarily safe for a child."
www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050819-1409-wst-westniespraying.html
Additional information:
Piperonyl butoxide with pyrethrins
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002589.html
Pyrethrum
www.safe2use.com/poisons-pesticides/pesticides/pyrethrum/pyrethrum-about.htm
Pyrethrins and Pyrethroids
www.safe2use.com/poisons-pesticides/pesticides/pyrethrum/pys-tvedten.htm