Hi, I live at my cottage for the spring/summer/fall seasons on West Waseosa Lake Road and a man from a mosquito spraying company is walking door to door this evening with clipboard in hand trying to sign up people living on the lake to have their properties sprayed for mosquitoes. He refused to listen to the facts about how harmful this practice can be to ALL insects and aquatic life, and he insisted that the ONLY things the spray kills are mosquitoes, blackflies and ticks. This is simply not true. It kills everything.
Attached is a good article about this practice.
I am really concerned if people who live on the lake start doing this. I am concerned about anyone using these products but especially if we live on the lake.
I will never, never use these products and I hope and pray that none of my neighbours do. The monarchs are already endangered and so are bumble bees. If we use these products we’re adding to the problem. We need our pollinators for our own food and for the health of the ecosystem. I’ve noticed several signs posted on South Waseosa Lake Road where properties have already had the spraying done. It is so frightening that people just don’t seem to know how harmful it can be.
Using a garlic-based spray is not as harmful but it’s not as effective either and it’s much more expensive than the synthetic spray so most people opt to use the stronger synthetic stuff, which is really bad for the environment, bad for all our pollinators and bad for the lake.
Surely, I’m not the only one who is concerned about this.
Susan Brown,
Town of Huntsville.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
I’m a late to this discussion and not sure it is still active. I live in Kemptville, Ontario relatively close to the Rideau river. I wrote an awareness post on our FB community site last summer and as represented here, most people understand the negative aspects. I would like to approach city council here to make a case to ban its use. I see some references to and case studies below but would love to get any feedback on if anyone has tried to get this banned and any advice you can provide.
I find it a bit pretentious when people tell me that my experiences carry no relevance since they can’t find collaboration of them written in a book. see: Ryan Wettlauffer, June 10.
Or that they can spray, or whatever, and nature is just fine. See Peter Ray: June 19. If you think everything is “doing just fine”, maybe you aren’t paying attention.
Our bug blitz each spring can be an irritant and intense at times, but that (was) is natural. In the 40’s and 50’s, when we visited my grandparents on Britannia rd. the old house was kept pretty dark, maybe only two lamps lighted and the area well smudged with old ‘Prestone’ cans packed with burdock leaves and coals. It helped, along with liberal applications of grease and citronella. I think the bugs just got stuck in the grease. Immobility made them easier to smack. You might not find that in a book, but you can read it here.
We drove up from Gravenhurst the other night and both Tricia and I noticed, again, the lack of bugs dying on the windshield. When I played lacrosse in the 6o’s, a trip home from the south meant the front of the car and the windshield would need a good scrub down; sometimes the radiator would need to be blown out. I don’t know if anyone has done a study.
The June bug hatch is still with us, but sporadic. We used to run the tractor paths, along which every frieze of weeds wore it’s own tiara of insects, all searching out their favorite nectar. Very seldom now do we watch a luna moth fluttering near the lights. In the morning, we would sometimes find the leathery patch of eggs. There used to be lots of them. Now, if someone sees a luna, it’s a big deal; likely warranting a posting.
I used to lay on a bunk in our camp and listen to bull frogs, a dozen or so, ‘chug’ the dark away. In the morning, you could see a hundred little spiders on a yard or so of web, hoping the draft would carry them across the river. Been a while since I saw a bull-frog.
Even the likelihood of seeing a black and white or chestnut sided warbler is now diminishing. Both feed and habitat for our birds is being depleted. And the places where they can find food and cover are now being sprayed, because the bugs are an inconvenience.
For sure it’s not just spraying causing the damage; it’s the general and indiscriminate destruction of habitat for the convenience of people. To some extent, we have all had a part in this natural upset. No! Nature is not doing okay. And I’m sure you don’t need a study to see things changing around you. That sounds like the purview of politicians.
In both cases, habitat destruction and politicians, every little bit hurts.
My feelings and opinion.
Peter Ray, your comments exemplify society nowadays. I’m sure that your anecdote and observation about the bugs and butterflies and hummingbirds is 100% accurate.
Quite simply, if YOU don’t want to spray, no one forces you to.
However, since respect is a two-way street, do not for a moment think that you have have ‘right’ to tell ME I can’t.
I have lived at ‘the lake’ for over 6 decades now. I really don’t recall when we started spraying, but I DO know that with spraying and application of BTG in the stream running in the back of the property, we can enjoy the outdoors far more than neighbours.
Oh, the hummingbirds, butterflies and bees are doing just fine!
David,
Your response is based on “knowedge and experience” but it’s important to understand that those are two different things.
Experience is simply your own personal interactions with the subject.
Knowledge is the broader field of facts that have been established and proven.
Experience can be misleading, because we are not able to control for outside variables in our own experiences. We can be unaware of what other factors are influencing the outcome. We cannot know if our own results would be typical for other people, or are exceptional for us.
Knowledge, on the other hand, in the scientific age, is based on large numbers of controlled tests, repeated and verified. By looking at large numbers, we can weed out the exceptions and atypical results, and form a fact-based conclusion about what will usually happen in most cases.
Large numbers like that are called data. Your individual experience is simply an anecdote. Even if you have multiple experiences, you will never have a large and controlled data set. That is why the saying is “the plural of anecdote is not data” .
Or, to use an anecdote of my own, we all know someone who smokes regularly and has not died, despite the known facts that smoking does cause cancer. I knew a man once who loved to dismiss the “experts” because he’d been smoking his whole life and was still as fit as a fiddle. That man continued to smoke and never did get cancer, dying naturally at a ripe old age. Now, can we conclude from his exceptional experience that smoking doesn’t really cause cancer? Would you feel comfortable assuring people that smoking is safe on the basis of that experience? Of course not.
In the same way, the few exceptional experiences you have had with this mosquito spray are not a sufficient basis to draw any solid conclusions. Your knowledge on this subject, in order to be real knowledge, should be based on properly conducted and controlled trials and tests with their resulting large data sets.
You should stop relying on your misleading personal experiences, and read the scientific studies at the provided links, so that you can base your conclusions on knowledge rather than experience.
What I failed to note in my earlier response is that applicators of Pyrethrin spray are trained and licensed. When the apply the spray they apply it to foliage (the underside of leaves wherver possible) as that is where mosquitoes rest. They do not spray on flowers in bloom or close to bodies of water. In open areas, they spray with a garlic/vegetable oil mix. This stops the mosquitoes from hanging around lawns. It is based on this knowledge and experience that I do not hesitate to alay others’ fears.
Mammalian toxicity of permethrin varies from low to moderate. Depends on the isomeric content. Think left hand and right hand – they are isomers. DRAGNET, product being used, has a higher percentage of the more dangerous isomers than most permethrin products on the Canadian market. For these, Health Canada estimates an acceptable daily dose of 0.08 mg per kg of body weight (one third less if exposed regularly). We are exposed regularly through our food and it is associated with behavioural problems in children (1). In lay terms, don’t ingest more than 1/1000 of a teaspoon on any one day and for infants 1/5000 teaspoon!
Permethrin, a neurotoxin, is associated with a broad array of adverse systemic issues in animal studies and even at smaller doses than currently considered safe. E.g. For pregnant mice given 10% of official dose estimate for no adverse effect their subsequent offspring had reduced capacity to stand, and when sacrificed their blood vessels were abnormal: shorter, brains thinner, and insufficient joining of main arteries (2).
Cats cannot tolerate permethrin. Even small amounts can be fatal. (3 )
The DRAGNET label is clear. The product is highly toxic to bees and aquatic life. (4)
White House award winning Biologist Dr. Oberhauser, specialist in Monarch Butterflies stated: “There is very good evidence that insect larvae feeding on foliage reached by ULV spray can be harmed by the spray, and simply avoiding blooming plants will not protect pollinators” (Feb 8, 2018).
1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24149046/
2. https://europepmc.org/article/MED/24150868
3. https://icatcare.org/advice/permethrin-poisoning/
4. https://www.plantproducts.com/ca/images/Dragnet_FT_label_2012-02-22.pdf
My personal experience below, posted on social media last month:
“If you think when you are spraying for blackflies and mosquitoes, that’s all you are killing, think again. Insects know no property lines and the type of pesticide is unknown to you unless you are a chemist. On Saturday, May 6/23 I looked into my beehives and everything was fine. On Tuesday, May 9 you had your nearby properties sprayed. Supposedly for mosquitoes and blackflies. According to a source who spoke with a worker, he named 12 different insects that properties were being sprayed for, including bees. On Wednesday, May 10 I checked my bees and found the entire colony was dead, with physical evidence proving chemical poisoning. If any of you have children and value their health, you might want to re-think your actions. The residual effects of this spraying are unknown, and your children’s health will be taking the fallout.
Addendum: the continuing saga, the big picture .. ironically, there are still blackflies in my area and all my bees are dead. Now, it’s not about the money because it’s the food that matters. Not only is there no honey from the bees, but they are not there to pollinate my gardens which feed my family. The value of the bees alone is somewhere around $350.00. Being that the bees died of pesticide, not only were the bees killed, but the hive and frames where the bees work are all contaminated and need to be replaced to safely start a new colony. My pollinating bees are gone from my property and surrounding areas, right when they are most needed as all blooming plants are reaching the peak of their season. The worst part of this picture is that, according to a neighbour who had their property sprayed, this treatment is repeated every 3 weeks. So, how am I able to have bees in this area if the spraying continues. Please, what can we do about this?”
Unfortunately David, what you’ve provided is an anecdote as a challenge to what you are calling false information…. while it might be true that the bees “were fine”, what perhaps you and your neighbours have failed to ask is “what if everyone sprays their yards?” What’s the cumulative effect? Like most environmentally negative (or positive) behaviours, if a few people do it, it’s not likely to make any difference….if a critical mass do it… then you start to see changes.
This is an adaptation of an article I wrote a couple of years ago for a Lake of Bays Association newletter. I gave permision to Susan Broawn to share this article.
There was a list of references that went with this article and it should have been included here. Here it is:
Some Pyrethrin and Pyrethroid resources:
• What is a pyrethroid insecticide? https://citybugs.tamu.edu/factsheets/ipm/ent-6003
• Pyrethroids: Not as safe as you think Anapsid.org/pyrethroids.html
• Dragnet FT Emulsifiable Concentrate https://www.fmeprosolutions.com/Portals/pest/Contents/Docs/Labels
• Effects of mosquito sprays on humans, pets, and wildlife https://colinpurrington.com/2018/09/buzz-on-mosquito-sprays
• National Pesticide Information Centre National Pesticide Information Center – Home Page (orst.edu)
There is so much false (incorrect) information surrounding mosquitoe spraying.
We have had our property sprayed for the past four years. We still have lots of bees, butterflies, fireflies, etc., just far fewer mosquitoes. A neighbour not far away was concerned because she had beehives and her immediate neighbours had their properties sprayed. She acknowledged that it had not been a problem and her bees were fine.
I’m with you guys on no spraying..I’ve been a life long resident of Muskoka and stood outside as a kid hearing and watching caterpillars rain down from the trees around us when DDT was the spray of choice..Muskoka is bug country plain and simple… stay away from here for a month if you’re too bothered by nature!..mosquitoes and black flies feed dragon flies that feed frogs that feed birds that feed foxes that feed wolves and so on..give nature a chance people or let’s just go all the way and pave over the whole landscape!.. sort of downtown Toronto it!🙃.. there I’ve had my rant!.. anyone else want to say anything?
The question is why did HEALTH CANADA, Pest Management Regulatory Agency approve this product?
Yes, he came to our house as well! My husband said no, and then he asked if we had a spider and ant problem, my husband said of course we do “we live in nature”!
We have a No Trespassing sign which apparently means nothing to these people! We would rather have bugs, animals etc. then solicitors!
The same people were at my place too. I think they are brainwashed to believe that their “natural” product is safe. Yes, it might have been synthesized from the chrysanthemum flower, but it’s still poison. I declined, of course, and told the fellows that I like the birds around my place. He seemed not to be able to make the connection that if we don’t have bugs, then we don’t have birds either. Sad. I did notice that several of my neighbours bought in. And the little “I have poisoned my property” signs are posted.
OMG 100%!!!! Thes toxic sprays are killing all the frog, toad eggs (who actually help control mosquitos and blck flies), its killng other beneficial insects and fish eggs in the lakes too…littl lakes tht used to be teeming with fish and other life are now dead lakes….between the sprays and peopl ripping out spawning grounds (lake weeds) to put in tons of beach sand, all of our lakes will be dead lakes if thes practices continue!
Please, PLEASE, turn thes companies away, theyr lying to you to make a buck!
Whn you opt to live in nature you hav to accept a certain level of insects…put in a muskoka room or a bug net enclosure for thos wks when the bugs are at their worst and leave thm to feed all our small relatives who live near or in the water.
Hello, Things like these sprays can cause so many problems. I do not live in your area but I am very concerned as well. I just had biopsies
of enlarged lymphnodes beside my heart, around my lungs and in esopgagus as well as small balloon like bubble in each lung. I am only 54. They believe this is Sarcoidosis so far. I have never smoked and don’t use recreational drugs. I drink very little alcohol. So the likely cause of these problems is suspected to be some thing that I have come in contact with at some point.
I really hope that we all investigate any yard sprays or cleaners, chemicals of any kind that we use or come in contact with.
We may think what we are doing is not harmful, but you are not sure unless you investigate the product yourself.
Thankyou for bringing attention to the use of these sprays.
Having just moved here, we seem to have been targets for black flies. I have about thirty bites and hubby the same. However, having bought a property were the previous owners led an organic lifestyle, we will only be using garlic spray. Our garden remains the refuge of many bumble bees, yellow swallow tail butterflies, along with hummingbirds, so garlic will have to do! We are being sprayed next week, so fingers crossed but under no circumstance will we be using synthetic chemicals.
Dear Susan,
It is frustrating to know the dangers and not be heard. So with you on that.
I have many references to share as I spent 10 months researching the chemical used – permethrin – I too became concerned back in 2017. I made a lengthy submission to HEALTH CANADA, Pest Management Regulatory Agency at the time, as the chemical had come up for re-licensing. I did a handful of presentations back in 2017-18 around the area warning people not only of the dangers to aquatic life, pollinators, amphibians and soil microorganisms, but dangers to ourselves as well. The European Union banned it for agricultural use around 2000 because of environmental concerns. Yet here we are still flooding crops with it, as are our rich food source neighbours to the South.
I will work on something to share here tomorrow, but I would be very happy to collaborate on an education program for people in the area. If others are listening in here, and want to form a group of some kind for educating the public let me know. I am happy to present again to any groups too.
John, very keen to get the link to Lake of Bays article. Excited to hear about that.
best Chris
Hello John, Susan also provided information from LOBA but we were unable to upload it.
Thanks, Susan, for your most important alert. The linked article needs a source, please. Lake of Bays is circulating a good article, well researched, that references peer-reviewed studies indicating fish, pollinator, insect and cat death, and dog liver damage by pyrethroid mosquito sprays. They destroy all microorganisms in soils, rendering them unhealthy. I’m a beekeeper, fruit and vegetable farmer, and raise fish. Our acreage breeds lots of mosquitos. I’m completely terrified of pyrethroid use for the latter. In ponds and wetlands we put mosquito dunks composed of BTi, a harmless bacterium to all other species, that when fed on by mosquitos breeding in the spring, and black fly larvae in the fall, destroys their guts. On our regular pathways we place on stands very effective swinging black bug balls, which we paint with Tanglefoot to divert and stick hundreds of deer flies and horse flies who fly to them and not us. Say no to pyrethroid spraying. All species health depends on your wise refusal.