Public health officials across the country are considering widespread spraying of pesticides to control the mosquito-borne West Nile virus. Anti-pesticide environmentalists claim spraying will devastate bird populations and other wildlife, but sound science shows the pesticides are safe and necessary.
West Nile Kills
West Nile virus and other factors in the natural environment pose greater threats to birds and wildlife than pesticide spraying.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, West Nile virus has killed birds from at least 138 species, including some that are endangered. In the Midwest last year, 400 great horned owls were found dead from West Nile.
Researchers estimate that for each dead bird reported, there are probably 100 to 1,000 unreported cases – meaning as many as 40,000 to 400,000 great horned owls may have succumbed to West Nile virus last year alone.
In 2001, anti-pesticide environmentalists claimed data from New York showed more birds were dying from “toxins,” including pesticides, than from West Nile virus. Science writer Steven Milloy examined their data and found the toxins killing the New York birds were mostly naturally occurring.
According to Milloy, the New York data recorded the deaths of 3,216 birds. More than one-third of them (1,263) died from West Nile virus, and another 1,100 died from botulinum. The New York data reported 219 pesticide-related bird deaths, of which 30 were from intentional poisonings of pest birds and 100 were from illegal use of pesticides for intentional killing of birds. Just 27 bird deaths were attributed to lawn care products.
More recently, the Audubon Society claimed 80,000 dead birds examined by New York in subsequent years showed that pesticides, primarily lawn care products, killed most of the birds. It is unclear whether Audubon is claiming to have reviewed the data for all 80,000 birds or for only a sample of that population. New York officials have not released the data in any report, nor has any research involving the data been peer reviewed.
The researcher who conducts bird pathology evaluations for New York, who reportedly gave the data to the Audubon Society, has told the press he doubts pesticide spraying will do much harm to birds--at least not as much as does the West Nile virus. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says spraying poses a negligible risk to birds.
This article, written by Angela Logomasini, was originally published in its entirety in Environment News.