Call
Boxer TODAY-Contact info
Hello
everybody,
Please call Senator Boxer's office TODAY, Monday, Feb.
4. Her staffers in SF will be meeting with the CDFA some time this week to
get their story. This meeting was prompted by a phone call from the mayor of
Albany. Jennifer Tang is the main staffer who will attend the meeting.
Boxer will not. Jennifer's direct line -
415-403-0129.
It's important to
make these calls because Boxer's office has received only a handful of letters
and calls from us about this issue which really surprised me. Boxer is an
important ally and is already disgusted with the EPA for their rejection of CA's
request to lower emission standards. She's been on their case ever since.
Please call her
office Monday or Tuesday. Most direct route of communication
below.
Thanks, Jerilyn
415-403-0100 -
main office
415-403-0129 - Jennifer Tang
Senator Barbara
Boxer
1700 Montgomery St. #240
San Francisco, CA
94111
http://www.barbaraboxer.com/home
See copy of flier
below for talking points (format is wrong, but am not sending as attachment
because some people have trouble opening it. The correctly formatted flier is
available on lbamspray.com website for downloading. Copies will be at Greenspace
by later today).
Many thanks,
Elizabeth
Are You AWARE?
We are being sprayed for the light brown
apple moth (LBAM).
We will be sprayed from planes up to 9 times per year
for 2-10 years. Each time, they will spray for 2-6 nights, 8 PM until early AM.
We are to stay indoors, bring in toys, & wash outdoor play equipment and
eating areas afterward. The long-acting spray will remain for months. New ground
spraying in neighborhoods will start as early as February, 2008, with chemicals
known to harm bees, cats, &
suspected as carcinogenic and neurotoxic in
humans1.
The aerial spray IS NOT JUST A MOTH
PHEROMONE!! The pheromone is “packaged” in microcapsules with a
cocktail of so-called “inert” ingredients.
The
spraying program is based on bad science! Experts say it won’t eradicate
the moths and could damage human health.
There
were 643 Health Complaints after spraying in Monterey & Santa Cruz
Counties2.
Experts say health complaints are consistent with
inhaling the pesticide’s small particles and surfactants.
“Inert” ingredients in pesticides are
not regulated and not required to be tested! They are among the most dangerous,
often carcinogenic, substances, according to Richard Fagerlund, retired former
board-certified entomologist, U of New Mexico, & San Francisco Chronicle
columnist.
Microencapsulation: The pheromone is contained within little
plastic balls (“microcapsules”). The UC Davis study3 of samples collected during
the Fall 2007 spray showed microcapsules as small as 10 microns, a particulate
size the American Lung Association says can harm lungs4.
Surfactants:
Surfactants assist in getting pesticides out of the spraying machines by
reducing surface tension and removing oils. Spraying surfactants could damage
human respiratory lining by disrupting the delicate balance of normal
surfactants critical for normal human lung functioning2. Surfactants could also
harm birds, as happened with the death of local seabirds by making them unable
to float. “The substance sickening the seabirds is a protein ‘surfactant’… but
state analysts are still trying to pinpoint the protein's
source.”5
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)
bought pesticides with NO SAFETY STUDIES & offered NO MEDICAL ASSISTANCE:
Manufacturers did NO long-term studies to find out if ingredients are safe for
humans, animals or environment. CDFA began spraying without collecting health
reactions or offering medical help to those affected.
CDFA declared an
“Emergency” to bypass State Law requiring an Environmental Impact Report and
sprayed pesticides on cities BEFORE safety reviews were complete: CDFA
declared an “emergency” despite expert opinions that the apple moth has done
little or no damage to crops or local plants and has been here for two years or
more. Many experts report the spraying will not be effective in eradicating the
moth.
1 US Environmental
Protection Agency; Ohio State University 2 1HOPE.org; California Alliance to Stop the Spray
3 University of California Davis
4 American Lung Association 5 California
Department of Food & Agriculture