By Kathianne Boniello
When the city Health Department brought out its trucks to spray the streets of Queens with mosquito-stopping pesticides this week, it was using a different chemical than last year's controversial malathion.
Last year's outbreak of the exotic mosquito-borne West Nile virus was the first in the Western Hemisphere. While the Health Department insisted that its chosen pesticide in 1999 – malathion – was safe to use, some environmentalists and community activists protested the chemical.
Given the controversy surrounding the 1999 spraying campaign, this year the city Health Department has switched to two different pesticides called Anvil and Scourge.
The chemicals have been described by the city Health Department as “pyrethroid-based pesticides,” which are similar to a natural pesticide produced by chrysanthemum flowers. The active ingredient in Anvil breaks down quickly in sunlight and water, the agency said, while the active ingredient in Scourge breaks down rapidly in sunlight or when exposed to air.
Those opposed to using malathion, including Bay Terrace activist and city council candidate Joyce Shepard, said the chemical was mishandled by the city and that more people became sick from malathion than from the West Nile virus.
Four people from Queens died during last year's outbreak, which was originally misidentified as St. Louis Encephalitis in August 1999 and was thought to have originated in College Point.
Shepard said Tuesday the city's decision to switch from malathion showed that Health Commissioner Dr. Neal Cohen “has finally listened to the people. [He] is not using malathion because he realizes that malathion is more detrimental than it's worth.”
The city used Anvil this week when it sprayed communities in Queens and most of Staten Island. A Health Department spokesman said there was no discernible difference between the chemicals and no specific reason why Anvil was being used instead of Scourge.
Shepard said she was pleased with the city's choice and she called Anvil the “least toxic” pesticide the city could use.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the active ingredient in Anvil – Sumithrin – has been registered with the agency since 1975 to control adult mosquitoes. The EPA said Sumithrin is toxic to fish and bees, and application of the chemical on lakes, streams, rivers, or bays is prohibited.
Cohen said because Anvil and Scourge break down quickly, they were safe to use in this year's pesticide spraying. Both Anvil and Scourge are registered with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, spokeswoman Jennifer Post said Monday.
Cohen said “the half-life of these chemicals is short. People can go out in the morning [after the nighttime spraying]. They don't have any significant public impact.”
Spokesman Erich Giebelhaus said the city Health Department has plans only to spray Anvil and Scourge during late evening hours “when mosquitoes are most active.”
The manufacturer of Anvil, the Illinois-based Clarke Mosquito Control, states on the chemical's label warning that it should not be applied on bodies of water or wetlands.
The label for Anvil warns against direct contact with the pesticide, describing it as “harmful if absorbed through the skin.”
A spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit group NCAMP, the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, said as a synthetic version of a natural pesticides, Anvil is a more powerful pesticide and stays in the environment longer than the natural version.
Spokesman John Kepner said the symptoms of pesticide sickness can include: coughing, dizziness, a rash, diarrhea, and in severe cases, convulsions. In people with respiratory illnesses like asthma, he said, exposure to pesticides may make a person unable to breathe.
Queens communities that were sprayed Monday night included Bayside, Bellerose, Douglaston, Floral Park, Glen Oaks, Hollis Hills, Little Neck, North Shore Towers, Oakland Gardens, and parts of Queens Village.
On Tuesday night, the city Health Department was scheduled to spray the communities of: Douglas Manor, Middle Village, Kew Gardens, Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Jamaica, and Briarwood. Parts of Little Neck, Rego Park, Forest Hills, Glendale, and Lindenwood were also slated for spraying Tuesday night.
The city Health Department said for now it would stick to spraying at night to catch mosquitoes when they are most active. Giebelhaus said there were no plans to spray during the day.
