(6-8-24) A Celina resident, Marie Zehringer, has posted online a petition requesting that the City of Celina stop the spraying for mosquitoes.

The petition is on Change.org and Zehringer explains why she wants the spraying process to stop. The City of Celina has done this for many years during the summer on a regular basis.

As of this posting 25 individuals have signed the petition.

PETITION – Protect Your Health & Wildlife: End Mosquito Spraying

Why this petition matters

Started by Marie Zehringer

Mosquito pesticides that are mass sprayed into the air are toxic not only to mosquitoes, but to humans and all pollinators – including fireflies, butterflies, and honey bees. The continued application of these insecticides will decimate firefly, butterfly, and bee populations until they face extinction. 

The organophosphate and synthetic pyrethroid (mosquito) chemicals pollute the air we breath, water we drink, and soil that our food grows from. Exposure to these chemicals dramatically increases the risk of developing cancer. This is not desirable in a world already laden with toxins and pollutants. The more harmful chemicals we can avoid or eliminate, the better off we are. 

It is believed that spraying to kill mosquitoes protects us from disease. But just as bacteria becomes resistant to antibiotics – mosquitoes reproduce so quickly that even if 1% of the population survives, they are able to repopulate and bounce back easily. Not only can they re-stabilize their population quickly, but they also can develop immunity to the poisons over time. This makes the spraying for them ineffective and counterintuitive. 

This practice has been happening for decades, yet mosquito populations have barely wavered, and firefly/lightning bug, butterfly, and bee populations have plummeted. Many of us have lived to notice the difference even in our own lifetime – why aren’t there as many lightning bugs as there were when we were young? Or honey bees? Or colorful butterflies? Where did they go? They haven’t gone anywhere – they have been suffering the effects of their eggs annually and semi-annually being killed from the combination of insecticides and herbicides. 

On top of this – only 10% of the various mosquito species can transmit disease. And of the approximate 3,500 species of mosquitoes that exist, only 59 species live in Ohio. That means very few – if any – of the mosquitoes we are trying to kill do not even have the potential to carry disease. Also, even if you were to get bit by an infected mosquito – your chances of developing malaria are 1 in 300. The Zika virus has been obsolete in the United States and U.S. Territories since 2019. We are killing the food source of birds, bats, frogs, dragonflies, and dozens of other animals in the food web, while simultaneously poisoning ourselves for apparently no good reason.

By loading the air with poisonous aerosol particles, the only thing we are killing is ourselves and our future. Instead of trying to control mosquito populations in vain, let us come together and take control of our health and our world. 

From the EPA –

Pesticides Used To Control Adult Mosquitoes

Communities seek to control adult mosquitoes to combat an outbreak of mosquito-borne disease or a very heavy, nuisance infestation of mosquitoes. The pesticides we register for this use are known as adulticides. They are applied either by aircraft or on the ground employing truck-mounted sprayers. State and local agencies commonly use the organophosphate insecticides malathion and naled and the synthetic pyrethroid insecticides prallethrin, etofenprox, pyrethrins, permethrin, resmethrin and sumithrin for adult mosquito control.

Mosquito adulticides are applied as ultra-low volume (ULV) sprays. ULV sprayers dispense very fine aerosol droplets that stay aloft and kill flying mosquitoes on contact. ULV applications involve small quantities of pesticide active ingredient in relation to the size of the area treated, typically less than 3 ounces per acre, which minimizes exposure and risks to people and the environment.

Adulticides can be used for public health mosquito control programs without posing risks of concern to the general population or to the environment when applied according to the pesticide label. Our evaluation of mosquito control products includes assuring that use of such products according to label directions does not pose risks to vulnerable populations, including children and pregnant women.

The following fact sheets provide more information on pesticides commonly used in public health mosquito control programs.