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PostPosted: Tue Apr 20, 2004 10:00 am 
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Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2004 9:50 am
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Petition: Stop Aerial Pesticide Spraying in Dallas County

After resisting pressure from Dallas County to engage in countywide aerial spraying of neurotoxic pesticides in 2003, the City of Dallas plans to include aerial pesticide spraying provisions in its 2004 mosquito plan, which opens the door for aerial spraying across Dallas County this summer. Dallas County cannot aerial spray without Dallas’ participation. Dallas and surrounding cities like Richardson and Carrolton already engage in truck-based spraying of pyrethroid pesticides despite documented poisonings from spraying in 2002 and expert concerns about efficacy and safety. Organophosphates used in aerial spraying are even more toxic than pyrethroids, and the pervasive nature of aerial spraying further heightens the risk of toxic exposure. Mosquito Aerial Spraying in New York in 2001 poisoned more people than the West Nile virus infected while aerial spraying for the fruit fly in Florida left 230 people sick according to a CDC 1999 report. Please read/sign petition below and forward to email addresses for County and your local City officials posted at bottom of this email. Please forward petition to others.


Mosquito Spraying Pesticide Poisonings in TX, NY

1) 6 Dallas County citizens confirmed poisoned by spraying according to TX Dept. of Health.
2) 200 reports of pesticide exposure from spraying, 22 poisonings in New York in 2001 compared to 14 West Nile cases (New York Health Dept.).



Ineffectiveness of Pesticides:

1) Spraying is "LEAST EFFICIENT" way to control mosquito populations according to CDC.
2) Less that .0001% of spray actually makes contact with intended mosquitoes according to Cornell University Entomologist Dr. David Pimentel (Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics).
3) Pesticides can actually increase mosquito populations by killing off mosquito predators like dragonflies (Journal of American Mosquito Control Association, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics).
4) NY’s Cicero Swamp had a 15-fold increase in encephalitis carrying mosquitoes despite being sprayed 15 times in 11 years (experts attribute increase to killing of predator insects).
5) Normal wind conditions can carry a single drop of pesticide as far as 20 miles, making it impossible to spray in an effective, safe manner (Dallas-based environmental toxicologist Dr. John Lasseter).
6) Fort Worth and Arlington do not spray at all citing the ineffectiveness/health effects, particularly to asthmatics. Washington DC also does not spray due to risks of spraying in urban setting.



Truck Spraying of Pyrethroids: Health Risks
1) Pyrethroid Exposure Reactions: convulsions, tremors, in coordination, headaches, nausea, etc.
2) Acute Pyrethroid Poisonings: permanent neurological and vegetative nervous disorders (Toxicology Letter, 1999) as well as DDT-type neurological damage (Pharmacol. Toxicol., 1996).
3) Pesticides linked to breast cancer, pediatric tumors, childhood lymphoma ( Enviro Health Persp, 1997-99)
4) Studies link pesticides to autoimmune illnesses (Journal of Toxicology and Environmental. Health, 1996).
5) Parkinson’s: Parkinson’s risk is elevated in those exposed to pesticides and even more elevated in people with certain genetic variant that inhibits pesticide breakdown (Reuter’s Health, 04/04/2004).

Aerial Spraying of Organophosphates
1) Aerial spraying carries an even greater drift risk of truck-based spraying and will blanket entire areas in pesticides, most likely increasing health risks exponentially.
2) Organophosphates: Aerial spraying usually involves the use of Dursban or Malathion, which are organophosphates that are in the same chemical family as nerve gases used by Sadam.
3) After 230 people got sick from aerial spraying for fruit fly, 1999 CDC report urged Florida to find alternative to Malathion. Studies link it to respiratory, endocrine, and neurological disorders.
4) Durban linked to chronic chemical sensitivities and neurobehavioral effects, which include chronic headaches, blurred vision, unusual fatigue and muscle weakness. (USEPA Memos, 1999, 1997).
5) Kids exposed to organophosphates generally are 3 times more likely to be hospitalized, 5 times more likely to be admitted to critical care, and 4 times more likely to die or suffer permanent disability, compared to other pesticide exposures (USEPA Memo, 1999).



Environmental Risks/Costs: Soil, Water and Air Quality
1) Fort Morgan, CO spent more that $500,000 cleaning up pesticides leached into soil/groundwater.
2) Air sampling found dangerously high levels of a neurotoxic pesticide in the air around Fresno, Calif. (Environmental Working Group).
3) There was a massive lobster and fish die off on the East Coast following heavy aerial spraying in New York. New York faced Billion-dollar lawsuites filed by lobsterman.
More birds died in New York from spraying that from West Nile in 2001.

Please Sign Petition Below and email a copy to the Dallas County address listed below petition as well as to the email address for the Council Members in your city.



PETITION OPPOSING AERIAL SPRAYING

I urge Dallas County and all of the cities within Dallas County to employ preventative measures such as education, source reduction, larvaciding and code enforcement, which the CDC says are more efficient than spraying. I urge local officials to adopt programs similar to those in Fort Worth, Denton and Washington, DC that have successfully applied preventative measures without resorting to toxic pesticides. We strongly oppose the use of aerial spraying, which requires the use of even more toxic pesticides and has a greater drift risk than even truck-based spraying.



___________________________ _______________________
NAME ADDRESS






1) County Email:
Dallas County: email copy of signed petition below to zthompson@dallascounty.org

2) City EmailL:
a) City of Dallas: Click on link http://www.ci.dallas.tx.us/forms/mcc/MCC_Mail_Form.htm and paste petition into comment box.
b) City of Irving: email a copy of singed petition below to ccouncil@ci.irving.tx.us
c) Richardson: http://discovery.cor.gov/Public/IS/EMai ... m?OpenForm Click on this link and paste petition into comment box. List City Council as the Department.
d) Plano: click on http://www.planotx.org/council.html and paste petition into emails to mayor and council members.
e) Carrolton: click http://www.ci.carrollton.tx.us/governme ... ncil.shtml and scroll to bottom where emails are listed. Click on emails and copy petition into email.
F) Garland: http://www.ci.garland.tx.us/Home/City+H ... y+Council/ this link allows you to click on Mayor/Councilmembers for email addresses.

For More Information, Please Contact Concerned Citizens for Safer Mosquito Control at 214-696-0477. For website information and links, please see DALcap.org. For additional sign-on petitions to be set up in place of business or disseminated among organizations or neighborhood groups, please email landsusan@aol.com


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 20, 2004 9:27 pm 
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Joined: Wed May 21, 2003 5:33 pm
Posts: 829
Location: Dallas,TX
Thank you for taking the lead early in this annual battle.
I sent petitions to my area representatives and hope everyone else will do the same.

It is madness not to fight the poisoning of our very air and water!

Kathe :D


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