NYC spraying malathion/St. Louis encephalitis

[Joseph R Parrish Jr <JoeParrish@compuserve.com>]

The spray is apparantly meLathion, another 
derivative of parathion.  NCI gave it a non-carcinogenic 
label, but how many cases of anything have to occur when 
six million are involved--EPA safe limits go to only one 
per million, and with only three deaths from the virus 
definitively identified, the six or more who will potentially
suffer severe illness or death due to chemical reactions 
does not seem to justify such a broad scale spraying.  
Joe Parrish
NY/NJ Environmental Watch

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

From:	James Kotcon, INTERNET:jkotcon@wvu.edu
TO:	Joe Parrish, JoeParrish
DATE:	09/13/99 7:50 PM

RE:	NYC spraying malathion/St. Louis encephalitis

 
>Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 19:24:25 -0700
>To: SANET-mg <sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu>
>From: Misha <mgs23@pacbell.net>
>Subject: NYC spraying malathion/St. Louis encephalitis
>Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu
>
>Howdy, all--
>
>Thought some of you might be interested in this:
>
>http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/encephalitis990911.html
>
>This has been an ongoing discussion on ProMED in recent weeks.
>
>This is an issue that concerns me deeply. Research and fieldwork in 
>infectious diseases went through terrible cuts in the 80s, and now, 
>as then, epidemiologists have had concerns that lack of understanding 
>of and action on proactive infectious disease control can lead things 
>to get out of hand in cities.
>
>As with agribusiness, it's easier ("cheaper") to just spray. My 
>concern is that we'll be seeing more and more of this sort of thing. 
>I.e., as farmers are under greater pressure to stop using pesticides, 
>urban health organizations will increasingly justify uses such as the 
>above in "emergency" situations.
>
>I do not question that an outbreak of something like St. Louis 
>encephalitis is indeed an emergency situation. However, I would like 
>to see urban health officials and policymakers held to a similar 
>standard as farmers. Malathion spraying in New York City is going to 
>run off into the water, just like malathion spraying in agricultural 
>areas. It's going to affect pollinators and amphibians. It's going to 
>harm those exposed to it. It's going to drift. Etc.
>
>Perhaps someday there can be a sustainable urban environment 
>movement? Where issues like scouting for pests, building immune 
>system health, and understanding the ecology of disease will be 
>emphasized. And where farmers aren't cast as villains, but rather 
>everyone learns to rethink ecological balance..
>
>You'll note that the above story perpetuates the myth that people who 
>react to pesticides must be "sensitive." As opposed to, say, awake 
>and aware. Or alive.
>
>Here's the PESTIS fact sheet on malathion, by NCAP:
>
>gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:2998/0PESTIS/r.937188074.16337.1
>
>
>Here's NCAP's discussion of malathion's effects on nontarget organisms:
>
>gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:2998/0PESTIS/r.937188074.16337.2
>
>
>Here's PANNA's March 1998 report on USDA's withdrawal of a plan to 
>spray malathion by air in an agricultural situation:
>
>gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:2998/0PESTIS/r.937188074.16337.4
>
>
>Here's the New Jersey Dept. of Health's hazardous substance sheet on malathion:
>
>http://www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/rtkweb/1150.pdf
>
>
>peace
>misha
>
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Michele Gale-Sinex
>Communications manager
>Center for Integrated Ag Systems, UW-Madison
>http://www.wisc.edu
>UW voice mail:		608-262-8018
>Home office:		415-504-6474 (504-MISH)
>Home office fax:		Same as above, phone first for enabling
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Wash your hands after using any pesticide product. --Dow Elanco
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Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 19:49:16 -0400
To: JoeParrish@compuserve.com
From: James Kotcon <jkotcon@wvu.edu>
Subject: NYC spraying malathion/St. Louis encephalitis