Update: April 1, 2008 For a list of pesticide ingredients and their toxic effect on animals, and links to know slated pesticide spraying California dates (the list keeps growing) click here.
Update: March 21, 2008 A recent UC Santa Cruz study says the pesty light brown apple moth for which Monterey, Santa Cruz, and several other Calif. counties are slated for aerial pesticide spraying to eradicate isn't so pesty after all.
Here's the study. And stay tuned to see if pesticide spraying will stop, and, if not, to see when it's scheduled in an area near you. From what I understand, spraying is intermittent. If you're a sensitive individual like me, hopefully, you can plan your timing to be out of town those days.
Here's original post:
I just returned from glorious Monterey and Santa Cruz, and started visualizing my potential move. Very few places have made it this far in my mind. So when a reader from Santa Cruz asked me where clean places were because she wants to move before aerial pesticide spraying resumes in March 2008 to control the light brown apple moth, native to Australia--I was aghast.
But not surprised, for frequently when I think I've found clean! green! fresh air! invariably a toxic polluter rears its head.
The light brown apple moth has an attractive name for a brutal "killer". It's known to attack over 250 plant species including fruits and vegetables. And they've been found in 11 California counties thus far. Berkeley and San Francisco, I hear you're next for aerial pesticide spraying. What's the answer to such a problem?
I have not yet researched this beyond a glance at this web site with a sinking heart. I'm sensitive to the health impacts of pesticides. I buy organic. I don't frequent golf courses, nor would I choose to live on one, or downstream from a pesticide-laden farm.
Are they really going to spray the entire area? I will go back and read the above web site, and hope if you're interested in clean air, you may too. On the subject of pesticides, no conversation is complete without the ground-breaking classic environmental book A Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Before dying of breast cancer, she was the first to write about the negative health impacts of pesticides on humans and eco-systems.
On a positive note, blogs are really transformational. I mean, there are all these studies about Monterey's clean air, but because we have a forum to share, we uncover truths and help one another. On this point, I feel heart-warmed.
