Is Insecticide Sprayed to Fight Zika a Risk for People and Wildlife?
Florida is using naled, a pesticide that is reported to target honey bees as well as mosquitoes. “County mosquito-control officials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency play down the risks posed by aerial spraying of naled, which has been approved for use against adult mosquitoes in the United States since 1959, but is banned by the European Union,” reports Andres Viglucci for the Miami Herald. The US Centers for Disease Control urges proper application, but earlier this year, Puerto Ricans protested use of the spray. The chemical is fast-acting, and researchers and environmental activists question if may pose health and environmental hazards. The US Environmental Protection Agency has asked manufacturers to limit products marketed to households. Mosquitoes have started to develop resistance to a class of pesticides known as pyrethroids, but that is not the case with naled so far. – YaleGlobal
Is Insecticide Sprayed to Fight Zika a Risk for People and Wildlife?
Researchers and environmental activists question spraying of naled, banned in Europe since 1960, to fight mosquitoes and Zika in Florida neighborhoods
Monday, August 15, 2016
Miami Herald Staff Writer Jenny Staletovich contributed to this report.
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Comments
Pregnant women should take all measures to protect themselves against a mosquito bite. Pregnant women must also use a condom or other sexual barriers while having sex in case their partner has travelled to a Zika-infected country in the last three months.In addition, pregnant women should take the following steps:
Get tested for potential Zika virus exposure during the routine visit to a gynaecologist.
Get testes in the first and second trimester in case they live in or have been to Zika-infected regions.
Undergo fetal ultrasounds and amniocentesis in case Zika is suspected, but not confirmed.