URGENT: Citizens Group Takes on Northwest Mosquito and Vector Control Dept TODAY @ 3:00 PM

CORONA, Calif. - Oct. 15, 2015 - PRLog -- The Northwest Mosquito and Vector Control Department is one of the state departments in charge of approving toxic pesticides to be sprayed in Riverside County neighborhoods.  Citizens against the spraying are calling for non toxic alternatives and will be at their Board meeting today, Thursday October 15, 2015 at 3:00pm, at 1966 Compton Avenue, Corona, California.

The group plans to testify and bring their objections and well as protest the poisoning of our neighborhoods.

Elaine McFadden, MPH, RD and host of Smart Health Talk Radio Show decided to investigate the decision making process that pulls the trigger to apply pesticides over miles and miles of neighborhood homes.

In a conversation with Dr. Michael Hansen, Senior Scientist Consumer Reports, Elaine McFadden was told that the testing methods used by vector departments can give false positives because of the presence of another virus in the flavivirus group.  The only way to get a conclusive result for the West Nile Virus antibody is to send it to the CDC for testing. One article on the CDC website cited 72% of tests as FALSE POSITIVES.

Considering that 80% of those that get WNV have immune systems that quickly kill the virus and exhibit NO SYMPTOMS, 20% only get mild flu like symptoms, and less than 1% get ill.  Many of those that get sick are immune compromised.

There could be hundreds if not thousands negatively impacted by being exposed to these pesticides, our property is being illegally invaded with a toxic substance, with little public notice or education on prevention.

"After being out there blocking the street, and seeing the trucks blowing poison, it becomes even more real.  Many people in the neighborhood we spoke with while handing out flyers or calling to warn them had no idea of the spraying.  Being a public health professional, and knowing the risk of these neurotoxic, endocrine disrupting pesticides to babies, children, pregnant women, asthmatics, elderly, those with chemical sensitivities or immune compromised individuals, the thought of them getting the full dose through windows was very upsetting.”

Many bedroom windows, face the street.  A baby could be sleeping in their crib and the pesticide mist would come right in.

“We can use education and prevention techniques to reduce mosquito populations to very small numbers so there would be no need to spray.  The only warning residents are getting is some flimsy sign posted on a pole or stand that can easily blow away or not seen as residents drive by.  Some of the most susceptible may never leave their homes.

Some may think the Vector Department is protecting them by spraying, but instead they are being exposed to an endocrine disruptor that has been linked to breast cancer.  Deaths have resulted from respiratory failure due to exposure to these chemicals. People with asthma and pollen allergies should be especially cautious. Breakdown times range from a few hours in direct sunlight, to several months in damp, dark environments (such as indoors where they have been shown to end up).

Legally they are invading our property without a warrant or our permission for the sole purpose of applying a toxic substance when there are alternatives.

Nationwide there have been 1,028 total cases reported so far for year 2015.  Out of those 63 people have died.  There are over 320 million people in the US.  Over 40 million have died last year from the top 10 killers.

Millions of taxpayer dollars are being used to poison us in our homes, with less than 1% of vector department budgets going to education and prevention.

Why are the numbers going up?  Perhaps the MosquitoResearch.org scientists can explain.  On their website they say this, "Mosquitoes are rapidly developing resistance to conventional insecticides that target the central nervous system."

Spraying has many casualties including the mosquito larvae predators that eat them all day long 365 days a year, but along with bees many other beneficial insects are killed from the pesticides too.

We continue to learn more about the risks of pesticides that makers claim are safe.  Many don’t realize our government does not test for safety, but relies on pesticide makers to test the product and report the results to our US Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate and decide approval or not.  Most overtime it is approved, although the EPA was recently blocked from approving a pesticide because a court decided it was not safe so how can we trust all of their other decisions or the makers fully disclosing all exposure risks.

Neighborhoods can be sprayed repeatedly.  There are no safe levels set for babies or children, only for an adult male. The dose to weight response can be destructive in their small bodies in addition to their prematurely developed immune systems.

The top seven oncologists in the world just declared the #1 most used pesticide Roundup Glyphosate as a probable cancer causer.  Dr. Tyrone Hayes, from Berkeley University found the #2 most used pesticide Atrazine which is banned in Europe but allowed in the USA, was able to turn male frogs into female frogs when put in water with the pesticide.

They grew ovaries that burst through the scrotum and could reproduce.  This is not normal by any means.

People want control not poison.

It is the hope of the newly formed Healthy Alternatives to Pesticide group, that the Northwest Mosquito and Vector Control Board will take the citizens concerns into consideration and form a committee to start a prevention action plan.  We also call for a more comprehensive education plan to mobilize the community to help stop the proliferation of mosquito larvae so that the need for spraying can be eliminated.