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Anybody in West Roxbury get notified about the mosquito spraying over the past couple of days?

Seeems not.

Lyette Mercier adds:

Anecdotal survey of my neighbors/friends says 'no.' Everyone had their windows open that night too. Awful.

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Nothing

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I was home and you can hear that thing come down the street. I was pissed. I called the Mayor's hot line. They knew nothing about it. They gave me a number to call. No one was there. You could only leave a voice message.

Suffolk County MUST find a way to advise residents in advance so we can take measures so we can minimize our exposure.

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The city often sprays trees at night for other types of bugs. I've seen me, and the person spraying doenst wear much more than a long rain coat with waterproof pants, so I'm not even sure how dangerous those chemicals even are.......as for mosquito spraying, I have know idea what types of chemicals they use and how they would even spray for them

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"I have know idea what types of chemicals they use."

I no what your saying; because we don't no, there probaly safe.

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Mosquito spray was in the malathion family and it's done by helicopter or fogger truck. You're supposed to rinse off child and pet toys after the spray so they don't ingest it. The fact that no one was notified is highly dangerous- all pesticides are neurotoxins, by nature.

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The "official" head pat. The "I know nothing about it but I'll just tell you not to worry your silly little head" bullshit.

Like the time I was told "its just a little tar burning off - nothing that causes cancer".

Tar being one of the most commonly encountered cancer causing chemicals, of course.

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Obviously if they announced it it would have given the mosquitoes a heads up - kind of defeating the purpose.

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because I like that!

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add this to the notification list along with being notified when Massport Fire sets the "pit" on fire.

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in HP a week ago -- I searched for mention of it (looked here first, of course :-)), and not a thing. Spray truck was really noisy, too.

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Pulled the same thing on Fairmount Hill / Hyde Park. No mention from the city prior to spraying.

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It's the same thing every year. No warnings, although the trucks are so loud I actually did have plenty of warning.

They turned off the sprayers & left at just after 11:00 Friday night & I'm guessing they will be back Monday night to finish the neighborhood (near Centre and Grove.)

And the mosquitoes are still here.

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mosquitoes are still here, then perhaps they weren't spraying to control the mosquitoes after all.

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Well I would REALLY like to know what the hell drifted into my windows, then. Apparently I'm one of the few who finds inhaling unknown chemical substances to be unnerving.

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Because according to the page linked, West Roxbury is not in its service area. East Middlesex seems to be owned and operated by the towns in its service area. They do mention an agreement regarding the sharing of administrative costs and services with Suffolk County Mosquito Control Commission, so it may have been Suffolk using East Middlesex's equipment.

For what it's worth, they do list the pesticide used and its toxicity level (EPA levels IV-I, IV being the least toxic), Sumithrin (d-Phenothrin), EPA toxicity level III or "Slightly Toxic". I do wonder what the risks of the pesticide are against the risks of mosquito borne illness.

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They are required by the EPA to notifify and advise people if they are using the "least toxic" insecticide.

They are not doing this.

West Nile is like a case of the flu that most people don't realize is West Nile. It injures a few people a year. Eastern Equine Encephalitis hurts a few too, but not many in the city.

This is mostly done to control a nuisance, not prevent disease. If preventing harm is the aim, they'd do better to start writing traffic tickets.

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And not some other treatment for city trees?

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But, hey, go ahead and insist that if the government is doing it it MUST be okay.

Forget about DDT and all that ... right. Perfectly safe, baaaaaaahhhhh.

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no one was notified, because no-one knew. The mayor's hotline was not aware either, though, according to the public health commission the mayor's hotline had received a fax.

I called the mayor's hotline that night, who passed the buck to the county mosquito control. I emailed the boston public health commission infectious disease email, and contacted the governor's office. I also called over the weekend Dave Henley, the Superintendent for Suffolk County Mosquito Control and, per Dr. Anita Barry from the Public Health Dept, the one who ultimately determines the spraying schedule.

To reach Mr. Henley, call: 781-899-5730
You can request your property not be sprayed, though as of yet I do not know what that means. Apparently West Roxbury is slated for 5 sprayings this year. And, no it is NOT because any bugs have been identified with EEE or West Nile.

Dr. Barry promised to work with Mr. Henley and with the city to come up with a better communication plan. (or any communication plan at all??).

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