Aerial Spraying for the Light Brown Apple Moth in California is Dangerous to Our Health and Unnecessary

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Robert Lieber, RN
Mayor
City of Albany

California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary Kawamura’s recent emergency declaration enabling the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) aerial pesticide spraying of the Bay Area relies on blatant misrepresentations of the truth, fear-mongering and outright lies. The spray program he defends imperils California’s families, children, pets, and the environment, based on no real science and no solid facts.

The real facts are simple. CDFA sprayed Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, and at least 643 people got sick. They reported their illnesses although the State made no infrastructure available. The State only accepted health complaints on offical EPA forms signed by a physician, but physicians were not trained to assess the toxic exposure associated with the spray. Anyone without insurance or access to a physician could not “officially” report health problems. Secretary Kawamura’s assertion that there were no adverse reactions to the spray is an outrageous bureaucratic determination, not a true health assessment.

And that is only the beginning of the Secretary’s swift boating. He has the audacity to imply wide support for the spraying from environmental organizations. In fact, the Sierra Club is on record, along with 25 other health and environmental groups, opposing the aerial spraying.

Make no mistake about it, the chemical used last year, Checkmate, is a pesticide despite Secretary Kawamura's white-washing talk of harmless pheromones. The facts: Checkmate is made up of three components that have either not been tested or are known to be dangerous:

1) The synthetic moth pheromone: not tested for long-term human exposure risk. The State’s own health Consensus Document includes a disclaimer that it is based on studies that assume the pesticide will be sprayed over unpopulated agricultural areas.

2) The so-called inert ingredients (not inert meaning inactive; “inert” only means they do not target the pest): contain carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive effectors, liver toxins, skin irritants, and are unsafe to inhale.

3) The microscopic plastic capsules in which the pesticide is sprayed, which time-release over 30 days: Inhalation risk is unknown, but U.C. Davis scientists found some particles are small enough to be inhaled into the deep lung where they cannot be expelled. It doesn't take a scientist to know that can't be good.

Secretary Kawamura focuses only on the LBAM aerial spraying, ignoring the program’s other toxic and questionable practices, including requiring wholesale nurseries to use the organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos, employing state personnel to install traps and use pesticides in private yards that are toxic, especially to cats, honeybees, and the beneficial predators that naturally keep pests in the environment – including LBAM -- in check.