Subject: Re: POllIINATORS: WE NEED EMERGENCY MORATORIUM ON CITY MOSQUITO SPRAYING
From: Annie Birdsong <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2014 20:44:22 -0500

With pollinators in extreme decline, it is urgent that cities rethink
whether we should blanket the country in chemicals highly toxic to
honeybees and other beneficial insects in order to kill mosquitos or to
control weeds alongside highways.

It’s not just the honey bee that is suffering declines.  It is all wild
pollinators.

Dr. E.O. Wilson said, "The evidence is overwhelming that wild pollinators
are declining around the world."

Dr. Jeff Pettis, who is with the USDA, ARS, said, "All pollinators are
threatened."

Dr. Purcell Miramontes, who is with USDA's National Institute of Food and
Agriculture, wrote: "What I hope I've gotten across to you is that all
pollinators are threatened. That's what is meant by pollinator decline."

The National Academy of Sciences reported that the relative abundance of
four species of bumblebees have declined by up to 96 percent.

M.E. Watanabe said in an article in Science Magazine that “feral bees are
essentially gone in the U.S.”

            Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources
Defense Council wrote, "You don't hear about the decline of hundreds of
species of wild bees."

Thomas et al said in a scientific study that “reports over the last decade
point to steep, widespread declines of butterflies in Europe and North
America, and increasing evidence tht the problem represents an emerging
global crisis.”

Senator Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Agricultural committee said with
the alarming drop in pollinators, farmers across America have been
suffering from a decrease in agricultural productivity.

             Dr. Mark Salvato, a USFWS biologist and one of the agency's
leading butterfly experts, said, "When the use of chemical pesticides was
expanded for mosquito control in the northern Keys (Florida) in the early
1970s, the Schaus' Swallowtail butterfly made a 'dramatic decline.'

"Then when spraying was halted during two periods (1987 and 1989-1992) the
species began to recover.

"It's immediate decline when applications resumed clearly suggested the
adverse affect that chemical pesticides were having on non-target species."

In my city, the chemical used to spray for mosquitos is Clark’s Biomist
3+15 ULV, which contains permethrin and piperonyl butoxide. These petroleum
distillates are synthetic pyrethrins, which are derived from crysanthymums,
and work by paralyzing the nervous system of insects, causing death.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the half-life of the spray is 30
days.

The truck sprays very fine aerosol droplets that the EPA says stay aloft
and kill adult mosquitoes on contact.

The chemicals are carried as gases or particulates in the wind, fog,
clouds, dust and rain, changing the chemistry of the earth, contaminating
nectar, pollen and drops of water on foliage that pollinators sip.

To illustrate how pesticides volatilize and drift in the air currents,
putting at risk endangered and threatened pollinators and other species in
distant places, fish in the Great Lakes were once being killed by an
acutely toxic pesticide called Toxaphene, but farmers in the area were not
using this substance.

Researchers tested the wind currents for the pesticide by drawing air
through polyurethane foam.  “Places where we found high concentrations in
the air correlated with prevailing winds from the South,” said Dr. Clifford
Rice, an environmental chemist with the Agricultural Research Center in
Beltsville, Maryland.

They set up testing stations in those places and were able to track the
movement of the chemical all the way across the country to cotton fields in
the South where it was being sprayed.

While Toxaphene is now banned in the United States, it is still in use in
some countries and thus, still moving on global air currents –
contaminating the earth.

Consider the vast amount of chemicals toxic to pollinators that are being
emitted into the environment in the USA.  In my metropolitan area.
181,083 blocks
are sprayed in 92 communities.

But that is just one metropolitan area. The EPA says there are 400 mosquito
abatement districts and 800 other public agencies that emit mosquito
control pesticides.

Furthermore, 23,300 applicators are spraying pesticides to lakes, ponds,
irrigation systems and waterways to control weeds. About 5,175 tracts of
forest are being sprayed. And at least 5,000 applicators (individual
landowners or government agencies) are spraying herbicides in large wide
areas, often alongside highways.

Keep in mind that herbicides not only kill butterflies,  they eliminate
native vegetation that  they lay their eggs on and that their lava feed on.
The Monarch butterfly lays its eggs solely on milkweed, and its larvae feed
solely on milkweed.

Herbicides also reduce the number of nectar bearing flowers that adults eat.

Common sense tells you that cities are drastically reducing the abundance
of pollinators in this country.  It is like a mine field littered with
toxic hot spots.

Problems with pollination are already occurring. In Britian and the
Netherlands, where species declines are better observed and reported, a
study revealed that since the 1980's a 70 percent drop in wild flowers
requiring insect pollination. The authors also said 71 percent of butterfly
species have decreased.

A group of physicians and scientists that posted an open letter on the
internet say we should stop being concerned about West Nile Virus:

“The spraying program poses much more danger to human health than the
extremely small health risk presented by the West Nile Virus itself.
Even people
bitten by an INFECTED female mosquito, the carrier of this virus, run very
little risk of serious illness.(2,3)

“As reported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta, the chances
of a mosquito bite resulting in West Nile Virus infection and serious
illness is extremely low.(2)

“The Question and Answer Bulletin of the New York City Department of
Health advises
that, "very few mosquitoes -- perhaps only one out of 1,000 – are
infected. Even
if you are bitten by an INFECTED female mosquito, your chances of
developing illness are very small."(3)

“Dr. Gochfeld, Prof. of Environmental and Community Medicine at the Robert
Wood Johnson Medical School and School of Public Health reports(4) that,
based upon his experience and other West Nile Virus epidemics, typically
less than one tenth of one percent of people bitten by infected mosquitoes
develop any clinical signs of disease; in other words less than one in 1000
persons bitten by INFECTED mosquitoes (see Appendix “A”) will develop some
health problem.

“Even those who developed West Nile Virus related illness, usually only have
mild forms with headaches, muscles aches, skin rashes and swollen lymphatic
glands. More serious infections may cause headaches with high fever.(2-4)

“It is extremely rare for a person to develop encephalitis.(2-4) Available
information indicates that those who developed West Nile Virus encephalitis
in the year 1999 (62 people, 7 died) and in the year 2000 (21 people, 2
died) were elderly and immunosuppressed. These people were residents of New
York City and the surrounding areas. One person was a Canadian visiting New
York.

“Even in cases where death was attributed to West Nile Virus infection, the
cause of death may not have been West Nile Virus. West Nile Virus
positivity could
be a coincidental finding because the cause of death may have been some disease
process unrelated to the West Nile Virus. Thousands of individuals who had
no symptoms tested positive for West Nile Virus antibodies, proving that
they were exposed to the virus. They never became ill and were not even
aware that they were infected with West Nile Virus until they were tested
.(2)

“Compared to the thousands of people who die each year of the flu
(approximately 2,500 in the New York City metropolitan area alone), or the
number of children who die of asthma, 9 people in the last two years
combined, who tested positive for West Nile Virus and whomsubsequently died
of encephalitis (mainly elderly and with impaired immunity) in a population
with 10 million people – is an extremely small number.”

THE VIRUS IS NOT TRANSMITTED FROM PERSON TO PERSON.(2-4)

“The West Nile Virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, not from
person to person.(2-4) Female mosquitoes acquire the virus when biting an
infected bird. The virus must be repeatedly transferred back and forth
between infected mosquitoes and animal reservoirs (usually birds) before it
poses a risk to humans.”(2-4)

INEFFICACY OF PESTICIDE SPRAYING

“Indiscriminate pesticide spraying over an urban area is an ineffective and
very dangerous attempt at controlling mosquitoes, and thereby controlling
the West Nile Virus.(2-4) The spread of West Nile Virus to birds in 61 of
New York’s 62 counties proves that pesticides spraying is not a successful
method of control.

“Additionally, not only will repeated spraying fail to eradicate the
mosquitoes, the spray program leads to the survival of those mosquitoes
resistant to pesticides. This resistance is passed on to new generations,
leading to endless cycles of increased pesticide spraying each year – the
“pest mill”. Health officials in New York have already announced they
budgeted over $200 million to continue the spraying in future years. This offer
was refused by the pesticide producers because New York City did not agree
to cover the future legal expenses against the pesticide suppliers from
those who develop health problems after mass spraying.

“Even the recommended mosquito repellent D.E.E.T. can have serious
repercussions. In 1998, D.E.E.T. was found to cause seizures and even death
in children.”(32,33)

SAFE EFFECTIVE WAYS TO CONTROL MOSQUITOES DO EXIST, AS DESCRIBED LATER IN
THIS OPEN LETTER.

See more of this letter:

Open Letter by Concerned Physicians and Scientists:

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/mosquito/documents/Open%20Letter.pdf

WE NEED A MORATORIUM AGAINST GOV. RELEASE OF TOXIC CHEMICALS INTO THE
ENVIRONMENT.

*“The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the cogs and
wheels.”* *Aldo Leopold*

On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 1:21 PM, Annie Birdsong <[email-masked]>
wrote:

> Pollinators are going extinct.  Every week when I go to the Whole Foods
> Market, I inspect the long row of flowers there looking for
> butterflies.  Last year, I could always find a few.  This year, for 17
> weeks in a row, I saw not one butterfly.  Years ago there would have been
> many.   I do find a few species, such as African bees.
>
>
>
> Next year, will I even find African bees?
>
>
>
> We should be deeply alarmed, for our fate is intertwined with that of
> pollinators.
>
>
>
> Albert Einstein once wrote that "If the bee disappeared from the globe,
> man would only have four years of life left, no more bees, no more plants,
> no more animals, no more man.”
>
>
>
> The demise of pollinators threatens “the foundation of every ecosystem in
> the world,” according to the International Union for Conservation of
> Nature.
>
>
>
> About 200,000 plants depend on pollination to produce seeds or fruit,
> according to Dr. May Berenbaum, a professor and head of Entomology at the
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Keep in mind that plants are
> the base of the food chain.  Without them, the food chain would collapse.
>
>
>
> Dr. Peter Raven, former Home Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences
> and a former member of President  Bill Clinton’s Committee on Advisors on
> Science and Technology said when a plant species is lost, an average of
> 10-30 other species are also lost since some species have “specialized
> feeding habits.”
>
>
>
> Therefore, according to him, “The diversity of plants is the underlying
> factor in controlling the diversity of other organisms and thus the
> stability of the world ecosystem.”
>
>
>
> Dr. Paul Ehrlich, an entomologist, ecologist and author with Stanford
> University,  says, “Unless appropriate steps are taken to preserve earth's
> plants, animals and microorganisms, humanity faces catastrophe fully as
> serious as a thermonuclear war.”
>
>
>
> We are losing 30,000 species a year, according to Dr. E.O. Wilson, a
> Pulitzer Prize-winning professor emeritus of entomology with Harvard
> University and a lecturer at Duke University.
>
>
>
> He says, “The worst thing that can happen to the human race is not energy
> depletion, economic collapse or conquest by a totalitarian regime.  It is
> the loss of species diversity.”
>
>
>
> We don’t want to simplify the rich, vast, complex natural machinery of
> nature.  With an abundance of plants and animals and a diversity of
> species, there is resilience, security and less disease.
>
>
>
> *With pollinators near extinction, one of the greatest, most tragic,
> mistakes in the history of mankind is the enactment of an insect
> extermination program by cities to control mosquitos using a chemical
> blend  that the EPA says is ”highly toxic to honeybees, as well as other
> beneficial insects.”*
>
>
>
>  (The chemical used is Clark’s Biomist 3+15 ULV, which
> contains  permethrin and piperonyl  butoxide.  These petroleum distillates
> are synthetic  pyrethrins,  which are derived from crysanthymums, and work
> by paralyzing the nervous system of insects,  causing death. )
>
>
>
> The Environmental Protection Agency says the half life of the spray is 30
> days.
>
>
>
> In Birmingham, the truck that dispenses the chemicals sprays a total of
> 181,083 blocks in 91 communities .
>
>
>
> The truck sprays very fine aerosol droplets that the EPA says stay aloft
> and kill adult mosquitoes on contact.
>
>
>
>  I contend that the chemicals do not stay aloft but no doubt mix with
> other chemicals and are carried as gases or particulates in the wind, fog,
> clouds, dust and rain, changing the chemistry of the earth, contaminating
> nectar,  pollen and drops of water on foliage that pollinators sip.
>
>
>
> To illustrate that our wildlife are being impacted by permethrin, the EPA
> published a log with at least 40 incidents that people have reported:
>
>
>
>  Here are a just a few of these incidents:
>
>
>
>    “A municipality was sprayed with permethrin and piperonyl
> butoxide.  Several house after application, residents began noticing
> hundreds to thousands of dead butterflies (mostly monarch).  Analysis
> showed 20-37 ppm permethrin in butterfly samples.  Minnesota, 8/23/2000.”
>
>  (That was back when butterflies were abundant.)
>
>
>
>    “Pinellas County Mosquito Control received a report of one to two dozen
> commercially-raised butterflies following community-wide spraying with
> Biomist 31+66 ULV with active ingredients permethrin and
> piperonyl  butoxide.  Adult and caterpillar mortality occurred in a colony
> maintained by a local butterfly hobbyist.  Florida, 4/1/2005.”
>
>
>
>     “A state mosquito control truck sprayed permethrin within 10 feet of a
> commercial fish pond killing 3,000 rockfish.  Maryland, 6/16/1997.”
>
>
>
>    “An employee of the Mosquito Control section of the Maryland Department
> of Agriculture applied permethrin to a residential property.  One day
> later, 600 fish, crayfish and frogs were found dead.  The spraying was 74
> feet from the pond, while regulations require 100 feet.  Pond water sampled
> a few days later after the incident showed low dissolved oxygen.  Maryland,
> 6/16/1997.”
>
>
>
>     “Permethrin was applied to a residence for termite control.  A heavy
> rain washed the pesticide into a stream, and thousands of dead crayfish
> were found 1-1.5 miles downstream.  Soil samples taken underneath the house
> contained 46.0 ppm permethrin and soil near the drain pipe contained 0.554
> ppm permethrin.  Permethrin was not detected in water samples, but sampling
> did not occur until two days after the incident.  Virginia, 11/14/1995.”
>
>
>
>    “A residence was treated with permethrin and four days later, four
> parakeets died.  No analytical evidence was reported.  Oklahoma,
> 10/29/1996.”
>
>
>
> Even when bees are not killed outright by pesticides, they can be highly
> stressed.  The organization Beyond Pesticides reported that bees are seen
> having trouble navigating their way back to their nest after foraging or
> unable to fly at all.  Other symptoms include aggressive or agitated
> behavior, jerky or wobbly movements or paralysis, all of which make
> foraging or nest building difficult.
>
>
>
> We are not without power to protect the many endangered species under
> assault by mosquito spraying, for the Endangered Species makes it unlawful
> for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to  “damage
> or destroy” …  “any endangered species of fish or wildlife.”
>
>
>
> The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists over 50 pollinator species as
> threatened or endangered.
>
>
>
> The mosquito control program is enacted to prevent the spread of West Nile
> Virus.  How serious a threat is this disease?  “West Nile virus is neither
> particularly lethal nor easy to catch,” said Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, MD,
> FACP, FNAPA, FACPEP, Hon FRSPH, executive director of the American Public
> Health Association.
>
>
>
> “Very few mosquitoes carry the virus, even in areas were birds are
> affected.  And if you are bitten by one that is infected, chances are you
> will not fall seriously ill.”
>
>
>
> I would be more worried about the illness we would face if the food chain
> collapses.  I learned in my studies on the environment that if nature
> collapses and we somehow survive, we would face new diseases and new
> parasites that challenge our ability to survive.
>
>
>
>  “Life would be nasty, brutish and short,” said Dr. E.O. Wilson, a
> Pulitzer prize-winning professor emeritus of entomology with Harvard
> University and a lecturer at Duke University.
>
>
>
> Imagine a loss of plant and animal species that create oxygen, purify
> water, breakdown dead biota, cleanse the air, replenish soil, loosen and
> aerate the soil, prevent erosion, pollinate, disperse seeds, keep other
> species in control and so much more.
>
>
>
>  The web of life keeps the world habitable in myriad ways.
>
>
>
> Another consideration, while the mosquito spray probably kills many
> mosquitos, it no doubt also INCREASES mosquitos by reducing the abundance
> of many species that eat a large volume of mosquitos, such as frogs,
> dragonflies, fish and birds. (The chemicals used in mosquito control wash
> off the roads into culverts on the side of roads and are washed into
> streams and rivers, though the  EPA said permethrin is “highly toxic to
> both freshwater and estuarine aquatic organisms.”)
>
>
>
> If we stop waging war against nature,  there will be natural mosquito
> control.
>
>
>
>  John Edwards of Halifax said when one of his clients stopped using
> synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, the bird population increased five
> fold.  (From the video “The Nature of Things.”)
>
>
>
> We need for our congressmen to mandate an EMERGENCY MORATORIUM on the
> mosquito control program in every city in keeping with the Endangered
> Species Act.
>
>
>
> We also need an EMERGENCY MORATORIUM on the use of herbicides by cities
> that are used to control weeds alongside the highway.
>
>
>
> It would also be beneficial to have a  a jobs program planting milkweed
> and nectar bearing perennials on the sides of the highways to provide
> habitat for pollinators.
>
>
>
> To save our pollinators is worth any sum of money, for this is our
> national security issue.
>
>
>
> But let’s hope we haven’t waited too late
>