Background

What is the LBAM Eradication Program?

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) plans to resume “emergency” aerial pesticide spraying for the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) in summer 2008. The program began in 2007 in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties using a pheromone-based pesticide dispersed from low-flying planes in microscopic plastic capsules. In 2008, CDFA plans to spray the Central Coast again along with the San Francisco Bay Area. The spray is planned to repeat monthly for up to 5 years or indefinitely until LBAM is eradicated. The LBAM eradication program also involves other treatments, including painting of telephone poles with permethrin, a carcinogenic and neurotoxic pesticide that is also toxic to honeybees and aquatic species. CDFA has not completed an Environmental Impact Report on the spray program.

What are the Health Risks of the Spray?

More than 600 in Santa Cruz and Monterey County reported adverse health reactions following the spraying in 2007. The active ingredient in the spray, a synthetic moth pheromone, has not been tested for long-term human toxicity. Other ingredients in the spray are carcinogenic, mutagenic, reproductive effectors linked to birth defects, liver toxins, dermal irritants, unsafe to inhale, and toxic to aquatic species. The microscopic plastic capsules in which the pesticide is sprayed break down over 30 days, releasing the pesticide. They are small enough (<10 microns) to be inhaled into the deep lung where they cannot be expelled. The aerial spray poses particular risk to sensitive populations: children, the elderly, pregnant women, and those with chronic disease, as well as to those in the homeless population who do not have access to shelter and those who work outdoors.

The Moth Does Not Threaten Agriculture or Native Plants

CDFA has repeatedly stated publicly that LBAM has done no documented crop damage in California. Entomologists have testified that, based on its range, LBAM has likely been in California for 30-50 years. A recent scientific report on LBAM in New Zealand states that LBAM there “is considered a minor pest that does not cause economically significant crop damage or have detrimental effect on native flora” and that LBAM is 80-90% controlled by natural predators in New Zealand, and the same predators are present in California, including birds, spiders, wasps, flies, beetles, lacewings, and earwigs. These facts, taken together, indicate that there is no “emergency” and likely no need to use pesticides to control LBAM.

Eradication will Not Work

Even if LBAM posed a problem in the state, scientists say that eradication has no chance of success given the range over which LBAM is established and the fact that pheromone spray has never been used successfully to eradicate a pest.

What Efforts are Under Way to Stop the Spray?

Three State bills and 2 State resolutions (AB 2763, AB 2760, AB 2765, ACR 117, & SCR 87), two pending lawsuits with more expected, numerous local governments and organizations taking official stands opposing the spray, and a number of other activities at the local, state, and federal levels.

Where Can I Get More Information?

More information, including scientific reports and other background documents, is available from several sources, including: www.StoptheSpray.org, www.CassOnline.org, www.StoptheSprayMarin.org.