Concerned citizens and residents of Bequia are strongly advocating for the use of an effective and non-toxic method for reducing the risk of mosquito borne illnesses and petition for A COMPLETE BAN ON MOSQUITO FOGGING. 

For decades the citizens and residents of Bequia have been exposed to unscheduled and spontaneous fogging to prevent the breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment and the Vector Control Unit continue to leave citizens in the lurch, not giving the vulnerable ample opportunity to seek clean air while their machines unleash toxic poison into our environment. 

We have noticed severe impacts of these deadly pesticides and in particular Malathion on our people and environment.  As concerned citizens we have a problem with this toxic insecticide being sprayed in our neighbourhoods, over our houses and on to our roofs.

We DEMAND IMMEDIATE STOPPAGE OF FOGGING and being bombarded with toxic pesticide spraying across our vulnerable communities. 

This petition serves as a call to action for all Bequia people, Vincentians and those who want to live in a more health conscious Grenadines to step forward and be stewards of our environment. We don't want to live in an environment without pollinators, we refuse to drink poisoned water in our tanks, we want our children and elderly to be safe and cared for. We refuse to be held hostage at 5 am while the trucks billow the poisonous gas into our homes while we sleep.

Risks of Fogging: 

Research confirms the dangers pesticides can pose including cancer, asthma and liver malfunction, among other conditions. Malathion and diesel (a scary petroleum laden combo) are carcinogenic you can know more about this chemical here. Many of these chemicals were originally designed as nerve gases in chemical warfare; however, much lower levels of the chemicals are used in pesticides. Pregnant women, foetuses, infants, and children have a greater risk of getting sick from pesticides. Children, the elderly, and the chronically ill are at greatest risk from chemically induced immune-suppression. In 2015, Malathion was classified by the International Agent for Research on Cancer as a “probable carcinogen” in humans.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Mosquito Control Association, the airborne spraying of pesticides, commonly called mosquito ‘fogging’, to kill adult mosquitoes is the least effective method to control mosquito populations. Fogging usually consists of spraying or fogging pesticides from the back of a truck or plane. This method is ineffective because the pesticide only kills those mosquitoes flying in the spray; mosquitoes behind buildings or under vegetation are not affected. Airborne pesticides are particularly harmful as they may be easily ingested by humans and wildlife.

Pesticides such as those sprayed in Bequia can trigger asthma and aggravate respiratory conditions. Children have a greater risk of developing asthma by age five after pesticide exposure within the first year of life. Children have a 50% higher incidence of leukaemia if their mothers are exposed to pesticides in the home up to three months before a pregnancy, during or after it. Children under age two have 10 times the adult risk of developing cancer after pesticides; ages 3-15 have triple the risk. 

Several studies have found that pesticides increase your risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. The many types of cancer associated with pesticide exposure include leukaemia, neuroblastoma, Wilms’ tumour, soft-tissue sarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and cancers of the brain, breast, pancreas, stomach, prostate, kidneys, colorectum, and testes. 

Note that 0.1% of sprayed pesticides actually hit the target pest - 99.9 % go off into the environment (air). The pesticides are actually negatively affecting our bird, bat and bee population more than the mosquito population.

Why Stop Now?

The following are some reasons, the citizens and residents of Bequia should rally to stop the spraying of toxic chemicals, immediately:

1. We collect our drinkable (potable) water from our roofs: We are dependent on rain for our water supply. The pesticide lands on roofs and is then washed into our cisterns and tanks. Once the poison is lodged in water, we are being perpetually poisoned. No studies exist to our knowledge on the effects of Malathion on communities who drink rainwater. 

2. The ingredients used in mosquito fogging are powerful neurotoxins, carcinogenic and endocrine disruptors: There are many studies showing the danger of Malathion. Short-term exposures to high levels of Malathion can affect the nervous system causing a variety of symptoms, including headaches, nausea, dizziness, respiratory problems, weakness,  numbness of the lips and tongue, cramps, diarrhoea, excessive sweating, blurred vision and increased heart rate. For these reasons, many countries have banned open-air fogging completely. The particular substance Malathion has been banned in the EU since 2006 following studies that declared it as a public health hazard.

3. Destruction of pollinators (bees, birds, bats and dragonflies): Many mosquito control pesticides are toxic to honey bees and given the declining populations of pollinators, vector control officials are being asked to carefully consider the risks associated with pesticide spraying. Our bee population has been and continues to be severely impacted and remains vulnerable. Fogging of adult mosquitoes is ineffective in the rainy season. While it provides a false sense of security there is very little impact on the vectors themselves while the related damage to pollinators is devastating. Potential factors for Honey Bee Damage are detailed here. 

Recently Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Saboto Caesar shared at the 11th Caribbean Beekeeping Congress, under the theme “Building the Resilience of a Bee-Keeping Industry after a natural Disaster", hosted by the Vincentian Beekeeping Association.

“We all know how critical it is to ensure that the mosquitos don’t have their way but we have to balance this not only the protection of the bees but there are many persons in the scientific field who are also noting that there are far better opportunities that we have available today that we can utilise to protect both bees and human beings.” 

4. Marine Effects: Pesticides are acutely toxic to fish and crustaceans. Runoff can wash these chemicals from our yards into surface waters, where they can poison aquatic organisms such as fish and crustaceans, which are highly sensitive to pyrethroids.

5. Pets: exposed to pesticides and insecticides can experience vomiting, diarrhoea, lethargy, and other symptoms.

6. Fogging may be a bigger health risk than dealing with the presence of mosquitoes and is widely ineffective controlling the vector population. 

7. Vector increased resistance: Studies from the French West Indies indicate that the Aedes aegypti develops resistance to Malathion and the preferred option was to manage the larvae using Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti).

8. Double Standards: We simply ask why toxins that are banned in Europe continue to be exported to developing countries like ours? With weaker regulatory systems in place, our Small Island Developing States (SIDS) continue to be recipients of dangerous waste and toxic materials. Read more on the EU pesticide ban.

Alternatives

There are several recommended alternatives to fogging that our communities can consider moving forward. Safe alternatives exist such as garlic sprays which can last for a month. As a community, we can collate our knowledge to know what safer, cheaper alternatives are. We invite other environmentally-focused NGOs to chart a path forward for a cleaner, healthier environment for us to thrive in. Some alternatives to fogging include: 

Source elimination/Destruction of breeding grounds: Removing standing water from places of residence and business decreases breeding sites for mosquitoes. Residents can help reduce mosquito populations by regularly draining and cleaning the standing water in clogged gutters, regularly checking the parameters of houses to make sure that containers are not collecting water or aren’t infected.

Oiling: Fogging is only moderately effective in the control of the mosquito population. For each adult mosquito killed, many more larvae in the water remain unaffected. Reducing the number of larvae is a more effective measure, which means that oiling achieves better results than fogging.

Larviciding/Algae Removal from Stagnant Water: Dropping contained amounts of organic/natural pesticides in mosquito breeding sites and killing mosquito larvae before they become a nuisance. If you have stagnant water in your garden, including pots, tires etc, ensure that they are free of algae. By eliminating the algae, you will be starving the larvae, thus killing mosquitoes.

Ecological approaches: Using natural mosquito predators such as birds, bats and dragonflies and other insects to control mosquito populations. Putting up bird feeders will attract predatory birds. For instance, a dragonfly can eat up to 100 mosquitoes for one meal! Bats can eat thousands, get that!! 1000s of mosquitoes a night. Fogging kills and negatively impacts the lives of dragonflies, birds, bats and other helpful insects that keep the mosquito population down.

Planting Neem Trees: A nationwide planting project to place neem trees on every Bequia citizen’s property can be the longer-term work to keep our environment pest resistant.

Long term visioning for our community: 

Providing education, training and information to citizens, schools, community groups and the media regarding ecological mosquito control. 

Special thanks:

Special thanks to Lennox D. Lampkin from Lampkin’s Natural Farm (LaNaf) for providing some clarifying links and information on the banning of these dangerous chemicals in the EU along with how the toxic and prohibitive waste of the developed world continues to tickle down to underdeveloped and impoverished nations.

Signed by:

Holly Bynoe and Concerned Citizens of Bequia

Recent Press Links concerning Fogging in SVG:

Bees Under Threat