City fogging for misquetos[sp?]

The city of colton will be spraying for misquetos in hopes of disapating the west nile virus threat, am I the only one that wonders what the effects of this 'fogging' will be on the natural wild life? as if the smog wasn't enough...

Not to mention What do you suppose the effects will be On our T's?

They have done that for last several years here too. The first year I was't aware they where spraying until after about a month of daily doses, of coarse my windows where open the whole time and about another month later my t's began 'twitching' and going into death curls. I lost 4 spiders, I blame the pesticides even though I don't have any real proof. Now I just keep all my doors and windows closed and give the truck the one finger salute when ever I see it.

As for the wildlife I can't imagine it being good, They are just going around spraying poison on everything.

Matt

Probably they are fogging with malathione or maybe parathione. These are organophosphates. Overall, they are less dangerous than the organochlorides, since they break down into less harmful chemicals within weeks of their use (organochlorides like DDT, Endrin, and Aldrin are the big problem chemicals which are now banned). In the target pest insects, organophosphates interfere with nerve conduction and can lead to convulsion and death (probably what happened to your Ts Matt). The human concern is that the organophosphate pesticides may have a genetic effect that could generate cancer or birth defects, or that they may directly cause allergic reactions or neurochemical abberation in the brains of those exposed. Despite these risks - not proven, BTW - they are much safer than the organochlorides.
If they are fogging with carbamates, they are somewhere in between organophosphates and organochlorides in severity, and they may cause birth defects.
Either way, I would definitely keep your windows closed.
Tamara

Oh, and for the effect on wildlife, well, probably all arthropods will be affected much like mosquitos and Ts. Fogging likely kills many commercially valuable species of insects. As well, birds and other animals may ingest the chemicals before they breakdown. I don't know the effects on birds. As for mammals, the risks may be much like they are for us.
There is a whole field of medical research devoted to pesticide contamination in humans, which we are exposed to in our air, food and water. Scary huh?
Tamara

With all this in mind how can the city Go ahead with such a ignorant plan? I mean isn't that extremely stupid thing to do?? Why can't they just invest the money into treatment for the disease.. I mean god we all die one day..

A friend of mine recently lost over 20 rare spiderlings when the mosquito control sprayed. She had no idea they would be spraying and had her window open.......she was heartbroken to say the least.
I personally never open the window in my bedroom where my T's are, but my living room window is open almost constantly. Mosquito control usually sprays about every 2 weeks here.

pest control

im so shocked that this still occurs in the USA, surely they have learnt from past experiences (with DDT and other nasties), i guess we are lucky that they dont do that to us in the UK

thedreadedone said:

im so shocked that this still occurs in the USA, surely they have learnt from past experiences (with DDT and other nasties), i guess we are lucky that they dont do that to us in the UK

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Pffffft! (no offense meant towards you, oh dreadedone!)...with everything that's gone on in the last 4 years or so I'm not surprised by the level of ignorance conveyed by this plan. It's all about short term plans and how much money The Powers That Be can stand to make off it. If some 8 legged fuzzy things and poor people die, "oh well...we never liked them anyway", right?

Can't we pretition the gov or something? I mean how long is this stupidity going to be alowed to go on? I don't want any of my animals lost due to this ignorance but theirs no air half the time in the house so windows being open is a must.. Will damp towels over the t's enclosures help dampen it at all?

this is just my opinion, not meant to be mean or nasty.


Dude you live in californis, that place is F***ed up ...they sprayed where i lived in north carolina. I did not keep T's back then but i did have cats and dogs. I lost a kitten to spraying. If you are really worried about your T's i would suggest closing any windows associated with the room you keep your T's in. Then go to hardware store and buy some of that plastic window shrink wrap. Seal the room's windows, put a fan in blowing out of the room and you should be ok. petition the govt if you like, i will sign the petition happily...but secure your pets causer they will surely be spraying in no time. Get a schedule from the city maintenance dept and make sure your house windows are closed on those days or about the time they are expected in your neighborhood. Secure your pets, then fight the govt....

yes they warned that they should be spraying in the morning around 5am - 6am and for everyone to be inside at those times just incase you didn't know Malhavoc's. That is what I heard on the radio for Fontana.

With all this in mind how can the city Go ahead with such a ignorant plan? I mean isn't that extremely stupid thing to do??

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Welcome to planet earth, humanity is an incredibly destructive stupid species. It gets worse every year, polution builds up, habitat is destroyed, and or population skyrockets. Somethings you cant control, and we have to protect ourselves but come on. The US in peticular is severely destructive to the environment. We are not in the Kyoto protocol, guzzle gasoline, have a horrible anti-environment government. Makes me sick! But its ok humans arnt going to be around that much longer.

Only when the last tree has died
the last river been poisoned
and the last fish been caught
will they realise you cannot eat money