Spraying set for Lodi

Keith Nienhuis, field technician for San Joaquin County Mosquito and Vector Control District, checks the standing water at Ed DeBenedetti Park for mosquito larva in August 2004. (News-Sentinel file photo)

Spraying set for Lodi

City's first-ever major aerial spraying set for Saturday; operation aimed at killing mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus

By Matt Brown
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Friday, August 3, 2007 6:49 AM PDT

Comments (33 comment(s))

Airplanes will pass over Lodi on Saturday evening, blanketing the city with a light mist of chemicals designed to kill West Nile Virus-carrying mosquitos.

The San Joaquin County Mosquito and Vector Control District is preparing for a large-scale spraying operation in three cities, including all of Lodi west of Highway 99. Stockton and Manteca are also scheduled for spraying.

This would be the first time the city of Lodi is sprayed for mosquitos from the air. In previous years, only the rural areas surrounding Lodi have received aerial spraying.

If the wind on Saturday is more than 10 miles per hour, the air operation will be called off and the district may have to spray using trucks. When a spray has been cancelled, it is typically rescheduled for the following day.

District spokesman Aaron Devencenzi said the operation is in response to the high mosquito population, the high rate of humans and animals infected with West Nile Virus and the governor's state of emergency declaration in light of recent deaths from the virus.

Spraying info

Schedules and equipment used for mosquito control are subject to change. Residents and visitors of San Joaquin County can obtain additional information on West Nile Virus, including local mosquito control activities, by calling the information line at 469-8200 or visiting http://www.sjgov.org/oes. However, due to the immediacy of the West Nile Virus emergency, the district will not be able to provide the typical advanced notice of 36-48 hours.
— San Joaquin County Mosquito and Vector Control District.

What will be sprayed?

Pesticides to be used in Lodi deemed relatively safe
By San Joaquin News Service
The insecticide combination being used to spray Lodi for mosquitos is used to kill head lice and is derived largely from a flower.
More importantly, its key ingredients have been used for centuries and it has a track record of being generally safe.
The material being sprayed is composed of pyrethrins coupled with piperonyl butoxide.
If you've ever had to fight head lice, you probably used a special shampoo containing these materials.
Pyrethrins (pye-REE-thrins) are botanical insecticides produced primarily from the flowers of a species of the chrysanthemum plant family.
They are found mainly in tiny oil-containing glands on the surface of the seed case in the tightly packed flower head and is the plant's own insecticide that has evolved to keep insects away, according to http://www.mosquitoexterminator.com.
Chrysanthemum plants have historically been grown in commercial quantities in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Papua New Guinea. Today Kenya and Tasmania are the largest pyrethrum growing and producing countries.
According to one pesticide manufacturer, the insecticide is effective because it quickly decomposes in the environment, and does not give bugs a chance to develop a tolerance to it. The rapid decomposition is also makes it safer to humans.
Pyrethrins have been extensively studied from a toxicological plants viewpoint, and have been proven to pose low toxicity, meaning low danger to humans and other vertebrate animals, according to various chemical officials.
The piperonyl butoxide (pye-PEER-i-nil byoo-TOX-ide) is included to make the pyrethrins more effective in killing insects. By itself, it does not have insecticidal effectiveness, but can boost the potency of pyrethrins considerably.

Residents are advised to avoid contact with the spray, Devencenzi said.

"There are no recommendations to the public other than to avoid direct contact with the material," he said. "That may mean going indoors to do so."

The main ingredients of the spray material are pyrethrins and piperonyl butoxide, which are found in gardening products and head lice shampoo, Devencenzi said. Pets and farm animals should also avoid direct contact with the spray, although Devencenzi had no other recommendations for animals.

The district will spray Saturday evening, when the mosquitos are most active. After the initial operation, district officials will collect samples of the surviving mosquito population to determine if more spraying is needed.

"The idea is that we get it done in one evening," Devencenzi said.

Spraying planes will fly 300 feet above the city and drop a small amount of material, Devencenzi said, adding that two-thirds of an ounce of spray will cover an acre of the city.

"You'd have a hard time seeing it coming down," he said.

The district recommends draining and dumping all standing water that can support mosquito breeding and using the chemical DEET as an insecticide when outdoors.

Contact reporter Matt Brown at mattb@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Lots of kookiness here wrote on Aug 10, 2007 10:51 PM:

" but no one has blamed the Trilateral Commission yet. I'm surprised. "

Archives

Story Tools

Indexes