Malathion Panel Review Due on Aug. 18

The year-long controversy that left New Yorkers divided over the safety of pesticide spraying last summer moves closer to resolution on Aug. 18 and 19 in Arlington, Virginia, when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hears testimony from a scientific advisory panel on whether the pesticide malathion is a cancer-causing substance, it was announced by the federal agency.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani ordered widespread spraying by helicopter and truck last summer when New York City was struck by an outbreak of West Nile virus. At the time, Giuliani and City Health Commissioner Neal L. Cohen declared the pesticide safe.
But after a public uproar when officials reportedly described the pesticide as a "low level human carcinogen," City Hall suspended use of malathion and replaced it this summer with two milder pesticides, Anvil and Scourge.
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Acts (FIFRA) scientific advisory committee will report on its review of the controversial pesticide. The product, widely used in city streets and parks last summer, was declared as "suggestive evidence of carcinogenicity but not sufficient to assess human carcinogenic potential."
The malathion debate was triggered in part by Congressman Gary Ackerman when he challenged the EPA at a public hearing earlier this year at the Flushing Library. It led city officials to switch to less toxic pesticides.
Meanwhile, the current wave of West Nile expanded with the announcement by the City Health Department that a dead crow was found in Canarsie. There have been two Staten Islanders infected by the virus, last week a 61-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman. Earlier, another individual tested positive for the virus.
Previously, 34 dead birds had tested positive for the virus 27 on Staten Island, three in Queens, three in Manhattan and one in the Bronx.
Staten Island remains the only borough to have confirmed human cases of the virus this year. That borough was sprayed with pesticide for the third time in less than a month.
New York City environmental groups have filed suit against the city for accelerated use of pesticides they believe pose risks to consumers.
For more information, call the citys West Nile virus hotline at (877) WNV-4NYC or (877) 968-4692.