Anvil is a pesticide sprayed on Chicago neighborhoods as an attempt to reduce West Nile Mosquitoes.

Beyond Today has opposed the spray due to research showing the spray is ineffective and dangerous.

Here are some of the concerns that Beyond Today community members and organizers have expressed:

• Inadequate notice of the spray has lead to overexposure. Residents are literally sprayed in the face as they cross streets walking babies, bicycling, or eat in sidewalk cafes.
• Research shows the spray is ineffective. Even studies completed by the pesticide companies themselves claim less than a 75% kill rate. Mosquitoes emergy from standing water the next day.
• The standing water removal program is not apparent. 311 calls to remove standing water are ignored.
• The spray contains a carcinogen and other chemicals which are endocrine disruptors and have not yet been adequately studied. This category of insecticide, the synthetic pyrethroids, has been making headlines as new studies reveal alarming correlations with many illnesses. We should not spray this on our children until long term studies show the spray is safe.
• The spray is toxic to bees, fish, and all aquatic life.
• The spray is toxic to dragonflies, which are the mosquito's natural predator. When the mosquito's predators are killed, there is an explosion in the mosquito population and the demand for more spraying.
• The pesticide lobby has paid lobbyists to run op-ed pieces in Chicago papers claiming that environmentalists care more about bugs than people. The only company making money from the spray is Clarke Chemical, therefore, they are the likely funder of this effort. Read that letter here. (the company, CEI, by the way, was founded by Exxon to dispel the "myth" of global warming. Spooky that they noticed our efforts to have an organic Chicago and targeted us.)

News:

August 2007 New Study Links Parental Pesticide Exposure to Leukemia

Spring 2007: Beyond Today eagerly awaits the April 30th event "Mosquito Control in the Green City: A Meeting on the Prevention of the West Nile Virus Disease and Promotion of a Green Urban Environment." Representatives of the city's Department of Public Health and Department of Environment will meet with representatives of Beyond Today and other concerned groups to analyze the research concerning the pesticide, Anvil, and alternative West Nile management methods.

Fall 2006: Beyond Today's Pete Leki and Julie Peterson thank Alderman Schulter for communicating with the City's Department of Public Health. Early in 2007, a team of experts will redesign the WNV response so that it is more safe and effective. Beyond Today community members hope they will focus on standing water because there are such serious questions about safety.

• It doesn't work: A new study by the Harvard School of Public Health, funded by the Center for Disease Control, shows that spray control of adult mosquitos is ineffective. That's millions of dollars wasted and lots of toxic burden added to Chicago.
• Listen to a Public Service Announcement from Beyond Pesticides let's get this on the radio!
• Anvil Cocktails for All by Pete Leki (text or mp3 recording: read by the author) and other messages from Lincoln Square/North Center neighbors Tom Gianni and Julie Peterson
• The petitions were delivered to Alderman Schulter, we hope that he will do what he can to stop the spray. Read the letter which explains why we ask not to be sprayed.

Spraying of Anvil 2+2® may present risks to children, senior citizens, immune compromised or chemically sensitive and people with asthma or allergies (particularly ragweed).

This pesticide has some known toxic effects, but mostly it hasn't been studied.

For example, in the environment, we know that it is toxic to fish, bees, and other aquatic life. We don't know what else it kills.

In people, we know that in low doses, it is a lung irritant and that in high doses it causes tremors and other neurological problems.

We know that the state of California recently announced that it would reevaluate it's safety.

We know that some scientists and doctors warn that it is likely to mimic estrogen, and so we should study to see if it increases the risk of breast cancer.

Symptoms vary from person to person. Some symptoms are: eye, nose or throat irritation, wheezing, nausea, vomiting, runny or stuffy nose, chest pain or difficulty breathing, headaches, numb or prickly feeling on face or hands. Skin contact can cause rashes, itching or blisters. Children, in particular, may be at greater risk of experiencing adverse effects from the application of Anvil since they may have the potential for greater exposure than adults. Some animals may also experience adverse effects — so bring in your pets.

Fort Worth, TX, Washington, DC, Murfreesboro, TN and other cities across the nation have decided not to spray because of the high incidence of asthma in their cities, research that shows spraying is ineffective and there are questions about the whether the spray is, in the long run, worse than the problam.

Wearing long sleeves and pants and mosquito repellant if one must be outside at dawn or dusk is all that is necessary.

In every city, the Director of the Department of Public Health has one very difficult choice: spray and pass the responsibility to Clark and let the toxin be sprayed, knowing that people will not be able to prove which chemical in our environment caused their cancer, autism, or Parkinson's, or not spray and be blamed if even one person falls ill. It's self-preservation for the Director of Public Health to spray and risk giving us cancer.

The media is more than willing to report on "killer West Nile" and not willing to report on more subtle matters like new studies showing that general pesticide exposure raises the risk of Parkinson's by 70%.

We ask for public hearings with 50% of the experts chosen by no spray groups and no parties which have a financial interest in the matter.

Stop the spray!

*WARNING: Anvil is toxic to bees, fish and other aquatic life. (Source: Anvil Fact Sheet.) The EPA prohibits the direct application of products to open water or within 100 feet of lakes, streams, rivers or bays. Violations should be documented and reported to the EPA. Please send us a copy of your letter and documentation. You should also report any injuries or adverse effects from the spray to them. http://www.epa.gov/region4/home/contact.html

EPA SCIENTISTS PROTEST PENDING PESTICIDE APPROVALS — Unacceptable Risk to Children and Political Pressure on Scientists Decried

exerpt:

"In their letter, the EPA scientists charge that agency “risk assessments cannot state with confidence the degree to which any exposure of a fetus, infant or child to a pesticide will or will not adversely affect their neurological development.” In addition, the scientists contend that –

* “Our colleagues in the Pesticide Program feel besieged by political pressure exerted by Agency officials perceived to be too closely aligned with the pesticide industry and former EPA officials now representing the pesticide and agricultural community”;
* “In the rush to meet the August 2006 …deadline, many steps in the risk assessment and risk management process are being abbreviated or eliminated in violation of the principles of scientific integrity and objectivity…”
FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN BUSH POLICY LOOSENING CONTROLS ON PESTICIDE USE
28 August 2006

U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour has struck down a Bush administration policy loosening regulation of toxic pesticides. He found the rule change "striking in its total lack of any evidence of technical or scientific support for the policy positions ultimately adopted" and further chastised the government for failing to properly apply the Endangered Species Act.

In 2001, the government began permitting the sale of regulated pesticides without consulting with the National Marine Fisheries Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as required by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Judge Coughenour ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to hold the consultations for at least 55 pesticides, with respect to their possible harm to salmon species.

The government in 2004 instead simply altered the rules for procedure, permitting the pesticides to continue to be sold without the consultations ordered by the court and required by law. Judge Coughenour's ruling orders the EPA to follow both the previous ruling and the ESA. He also accused the administration of seeking to "ignore" the legal requirements of the Endangered Species Act.

An attorney for the Oakland-based Earthjustice, one of the 9 groups suing the EPA and Interior Department over the rules change, said "Pesticides are driving America's wildlife toward extinction" and called the ruling a victory for checks and balances and the rule of law. Patti Goldman went on to say "this administration wants to remove the checks and balances that hold them accountable", referring to the consequences of not following the regulatory process laid out by the nation's key environmental laws. [s]

• ENN: "Judge Strikes Down Pesticide Usage Rule"
• SF Chronicle: "Judge rules against Bush on pesticides"
• SPI: "Judge rejects Bush decision on pesticides"

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David Pimentel, Ph.D, entomologist at Cornell University states that “In order to prove whether pesticides are effectively killing mosquitoes, you need five days of monitoring mosquito populations before and after the spraying.” This is consistent with CDC recommendations for continuous monitoring of control strategies for effectiveness and resistance. For instance, resistance to sumithrin, the active ingredient in Anvil,© has been reported in cockroaches, aphids, mosquitoes and lice.

Public health officials and environmental groups are equally disturbed by the lack of information officials are providing to the public on the health and environmental impacts of the chemicals they are spraying. Often officials claim the pesticides are safe because they are registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)- a claim that is illegal to make. Many mosquito control and household insecticides are synthetic pyrethroids, with impacts typical of neurotoxins, such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, and irritation.

There are also serious chronic health concerns related to exposure. EPA classifies some pyrethroids as possible human carcinogens and many are endocrine disruptors, which means, even at low levels, they can adversely affect reproduction, sexual development, interfere with the immune system, and increase chances of breast cancer. In breast cancer cells sumithrin increases the _expression of a gene involved with cell proliferation in the mammary gland. Pyrethroids may also trigger respiratory problems such as asthma, a particular problem for children in urban areas. Further, piperonyl butoxide (PBO), the synergist in many synthetic pyrethroid products that increases the toxicity, is also classified as a possible carcinogen by EPA, causes atrophied testes, and reduces the activity of important immune system components.

Last summer, CDC released its Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, showing pyrethroids in the urine of more than 50% of the subjects tested.

California Notice to Registrants 2006-13 (August 18, 2006) -- Notice of Decision to Begin Reevaluation of Certain Pesticide Products Containing Pyrethroids (Anvil contains Pyrethroids) Pursuant to Article 8, Subchapter 1, Chapter 2, Division 6 of Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations, the Director of the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) notices her decision to begin a reevaluation of certain pesticide products containing one or more pyrethroid active ingredients.