They Are At It Again!

Early this morning we heard that disturbing noise. It was a block or two over, but we knew it was headed our way. Slowly but surely, the noise grew in intensity. Finally, it was almost on top of us. We looked out the front window and there he was: A city employee with a motorized spray applicator spewing poison all over the neighborhood.

Yes, boys and girls, it's that time of year again! It's time for the City of South Bend to exercise it's futile (and carcinogenic) attempt to eradicate mosquitoes. The chosen poison is permethrin. According to the EPA, permethrin is relatively safe. However, according to the Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, it's not half as safe as our government would have us believe!

Permethrin, like all synthetic pyrethroids, is a neurotoxin. Symptoms include tremors, incoordination, elevated body temperature, increased aggressive behavior, and disruption of learning. Laboratory tests suggest that permethrin is more acutely toxic to children than to adults.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified permethrin as a carcinogen because it causes lung tumors in female mice and liver tumors in mice of both sexes. Permethrin inhibits the activity of the immune system in laboratory tests, and also binds to the receptors for a male sex hormone. It causes chromosome aberrations in human and hamster cells.

Permethrin is toxic to honey bees and other beneficial insects, fish, aquatic insects, crayfish, and shrimp. For many species, concentrations of less than one part per billion are lethal. Permethrin causes deformities and other developmental problems in tadpoles, and reduces the number of oxygen-carrying cells in the blood of birds.

It's also highly toxic to cats and almost every household on our block has two or more cats each. Across the street from our house is a day care center and, according to the report cited above, "It appears children may be more sensitive to permethrin than adults."

Here's the thing. IF this vile substance actually was effective at killing mosquitoes, I might be willing to grant that it's a necessary evil. Unfortunately, it's effectiveness is meager. It generally buys our neighborhood 24 - 48 hours of a reduced mosquito population and then the problem returns to how it was before. If it rains immediately after application -- and it rains here quite frequently -- then it doesn't buy us any relief at all. Nada. Zilch.

If the city was serious about trying to combat this annoying problem, it would make far more sense to attack the situation at its source -- the Mill Pond in the woods below our neighborhood. There are proven strategies for reducing the amount of mosquito larvae in still waters and less larvae means less mosquitoes.

But our city fathers have bought into the idea that the best way to combat this flying vermin is through toxic means. Who can blame them? The chemical industry has spent billions and billions of dollars on slick ad campaigns and pseudo-science to convince most of the world's population that poison is the most cost-effective solution.

Here at Smith Manor, we're going to try a different tact this year. I plan to purchase one or more Pheromone Mosquito Traps. According to their website,

Mosquitoes transmit diseases such as Equine Encephalitis, West Nile Virus and other diseases. When they bite an animal or bird infected with a disease, they go to lay eggs and come back to bite again. It is this second bite that transmits diseases. The trap uses a mosquito egg pheromone which mosquitoes use to mark special egg-laying places, but when they enter the trap to lay their eggs, they can’t escape and drown in the water. This prevents that second, and potentially diseased, bite. This non-toxic trap can be reused for years.

I'll report later as to how well this non-toxic strategy works...or doesn't work.