‘Potent neurotoxins’: Doctor says aerial assault on mosquitos could be dangerous to Salt Lake Valley residents

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) – Salt Lake City plans to wage an air war against mosquitoes this summer, but a local doctor says bringing a military tanker to spray them is a dangerous idea.

The proposal calls for an Air Force C-130 tanker to use an Air Force C-130 tanker to spray an aerosol insecticide called dibromine over the wetland northwest of Salt Lake City International Airport from Aug. 30 through Sept. 3.

Suggestion: US Air Force supports Salt Lake City in fighting mosquitoes

“It is in these wetlands that our adult mosquitoes generally appear and migrate to the city where our human population resides,” said Dr. Ary Faraji Ph.D. of the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District said in an informational video.

Dr. Faraji assured ABC4 News that airing adult mosquitoes, or “adulticides”, is safe and necessary to control the insects and the diseases they carry. He explains the process in the same video.

“Airborne adulticide applications are mostly done after sunset to match the highest flight activity of the mosquitoes we are trying to target,” said Dr. Faraji. “If people prefer to stay indoors and close windows and doors while using adulticides, they can, but it is not necessary.”

Dr. Brian Moench of Utah Doctors for a Healthy Environment says it’s not safe at all.

“It is imprecise for anyone, including the Mosquito Abatement District, to say that it has no human health implications,” he told ABC4 News. “That’s an area surrounded by North Salt Lake, Bountiful, and the West Side, probably 250 or more thousand people within a few miles of that area.”

Dr. Moench says the insecticide clings to tiny particles that float in our polluted air and eventually land in our lungs.

“We have all of these studies that show that these chemicals are really powerful neurotoxins and have many other health consequences, such as the precipitation of things like infertility, reproductive problems and even cancer,” said Dr. Monk. “It’s harmful to children. It is detrimental to brain development in people across the ages. It’s even been linked to an increased incidence of things like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s … This pesticide spray program is guaranteed to spread these types of toxic chemicals all over the Westside, but at some point it will drift all over the Salt Lake Valley. “

Utah Doctors for a Healthy Environment plan to present their case against the air spray proposal at the monthly Abatement District meeting.

To see the Abatement District’s environmental review, go to https://www.utah.gov/pmn/sitemap/publicbody/881.html and click the link in the right column.

Public Notices Web Site – Utah Name Date Status Attachments; Salt Lake City Mosquito Control District board meeting in February 2021: 2021/02/18 12:30 PM Scheduledwww.utah.gov