Stop Harmful Mosquito Spraying in Altoona, IA

We the people of Altoona, Iowa respectfully demand that the City cease immediately the fogging for mosquitoes. Solid, unbiased research data is being published almost every week that confirms the dangers pesticides can pose including increased childhood cancers, increasing the risk of asthma, polluting our drinking water, and draining our pocketbooks. In addition, spraying has been regarded as the LEAST effective measure of managing the mosquito population by the Iowa Department of Entomology.

Please stop the fogging and implement preventative measures or utilize natural products made from cedar and garlic that can be used, which are safe for children, animals, and the environment. The following is a list of the top ten reasons, Altoona should stop the spraying of poisons immediately.

1. Altoona uses pesticides containing: Permethrin a central nervous poison and potential carcinogen, linked to cancer and liver malfunction. (Beyond Pesticides Chemwatch factsheet)
   
   


2. Safe alternatives exist such as garlic sprays which can last for a month, cedar sprays and preventative measures. This should also decrease the cost to the taxpayers.
   
   


3. Pregnant women, fetuses, infants, and children have a greater risk of getting sick from pesticides. Our children are exposed to these pesticides that are sprayed weekly just by playing on our lawns or on playgrounds that the City sprays near. (National Research Council)
   
   


4. The elderly and the chronically ill are at greatest risk from chemically induced immune-suppression. (World Resources Institute)
   
   


5. Uncertainty exists regarding the long-term health effects of low-dose pesticide exposure. (The American Medical Association
   
   


6. Aerosolized pesticides such as those sprayed in Altoona can trigger asthma and aggravate respiratory conditions. (Washington D.C. West Nile Virus Response Plan)
   
   


7. Spraying pesticides intended to kill adult mosquitoes is the least efficient mosquito control techniques. Eliminating mosquito larval habitats is the most effective and economical mosquito control. (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
   
   


8. 0.1% of sprayed pesticides actually hit the target pest - 99.9 % go off into the environment (Pimentel, D. PhD., BioScience)
   
   


9. According to the CDC, %u201CLess than 1% of those infected with West Nile virus will develop severe illness%u2026Human illness from West Nile virus remains rare in areas where it has been reported, and the chance that any one person is going to become ill from a mosquito bite is low." Thus, the risk/benefit analysis conducted by experts clearly indicates that the dangers of West Niles Virus are minimal and affect a very small segment of the population and that the long-term health and environmental risks of spraying with synthetic pesticides poses a much greater risk; (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
   
   


10. West Niles Virus is not a continuous threat during the year and the threat should be monitored before any mosquito program is implemented.

We respectfully demand that our children, pets, and environment not be compromised.