They call it "Checkmate".
The Department of Agriculture plans to blanket large swaths of the Bay Area starting June 1st with synthetic estrogen designed to interrupt the mating cycle of the apple moth, a 'potential threat' to agriculture in the region.
Never mind the fact that urban San Francisco and industrial Emeryville, among other cities targeted, have virtually NO agricultural industry.
This $74.5 million dollar program will go forward as planned despite initial test sprayings over Santa Cruz and Monterey which sent hundreds of citizens to the doctor with throat and eye irritation, lung congestion and soreness, and asthma attacks. Harvard, in conjunction with the CDC, has preliminary test results suggesting that the chemical composition of "Checkmate" and other such pesticides increases the risk of breast cancer and leukemia and it is especially dangerous for children, the elderly, and pregnant women.
Here is the chemical makeup of "Checkmate":
1) Water, the main ingredient
2) (E)-11tetradecen-1-yl acetate, a pheremone
3) (E, E)-9,11 tetradecadien-1-ya acetate, a pheremone
4) Ammonium phosphate, commonly used in "crystal growing" kits for children and as a plant nutrient.
5) 1, 2-benzisothiazol-3-one, used as antibacterial and antifungal agent
6) 2-hydroxy-4-n-octyloxybenzophenone, used in sunscreen and plastic products, contains UV-blocking properties
7) Cross linked polyurea polymer, commonly used in the manufacturing of plastics
8) Butylated Hydroxytoluene, a common food preservative
9) Polyvinyl alcohol, polymer used in shampoos, cosmetics, Silly Putty, and glue
10) Tricaprylyl methyl amoonium chloride, "contributes to product purity"
11) Sodium Phosphate, a naturally occurring substance. Used as an additive in egg products, can be prescribed as a laxative.
Toxicity studies of the mix did show skin, eye, and throat irritation as side effects, as well as diarrhea. The spray releases microparticles of encased pheremones that slowly seep out the pheremones over a one to two month period. Suterra (the company) claims that the particles are "very large by inhalation standards" and so cannot reach "the deep lung". Rather, they reach the pulmonary ("air exchange") lung, nasal passages, larynx, pharynx, and thracheo-bronchial region. Oooh, big relief. Tell that to the parents whose child suffered a first-time asthma attack as a result of the Santa Cruz spraying.
I was super pissed when I read about this the other day. Here's some relevent links to do your own research on the systematic and unnecessary blanketing of Californian urban communities with poison.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/15/MN99V2PMN.DT...
(San Francisco Chronicle, 2/15/08)
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/PDEP/lbam/lbam_main.html
(CDFA's downloadable PDF files on the Apple Moth Project)
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