Sept. 21, 2015 By Jackie Strawbridge
Pesticide-spraying trucks will return to a number of western Queens neighborhoods this evening as the Health Dept. aims to deplete the mosquito population to combat West Nile disease.
Spraying will begin at 8:30 p.m. and continue until 6 a.m. Tuesday morning.
One spray zone will stretch from Long Island City and Sunnyside to Elmhurst and Ridgewood. It will be bounded by Queens Boulevard and Thomson Avenue to the north, 29th Street and Dutch Kills to the west, the LIRR and Metropolitan Avenue to the south, and the rail road tracks in Elmhurst to the east.
Spraying will also occur in Astoria/Woodside, bounded by 20th Avenue and 35th Street to the north, 28th Avenue, 43rd Street and Newtown Road to the west; Broadway and Northern Boulevard to the south, and Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (278), 30th Avenue, 78th Street, Astoria Boulevard and 75th Street to the east.
The Health Dept. previously sprayed pesticide in western Queens in mid-August, one day after announcing that the first human case of West Nile had been discovered in a Brooklyn man.
Since then, eleven cases of West Nile Disease have been discovered citywide, with five in Queens.
One case of less severe West Nile fever has also occurred in Queens.
A Health Dept. spokesperson said the agency could not specify where in the borough these cases were located due to privacy concerns.
While the Health Dept. said the pesticide (Anvil® 10+10) used does not pose any significant health risk, it advises residents with respiratory ailments to stay indoors while spraying occurs.
Windows should be kept closed; air conditioners may be used, but the vents should be closed to prevent possible indoor exposure to the pesticide.
Any toys, clothes and outdoor equipment should be moved inside prior to spraying; anything left outside while spraying occurs should be thoroughly washed before reuse. People exposed to the pesticide should thoroughly wash their skin with soap and water.
A rain date for tonight’s spraying is scheduled for Sept. 28 during the same hours.
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13 Comments
I would love to see those who claim “poison” to just simply stop the truck, take a sample and take it to lab and get it analyzed and then talk more about it. I think we should be entitled to know what we are being sprayed with and I sure won’t take “it’s good for you, don’t worry”.
Seriously, can someone do it, all of us conspiracy theorists will chip in for the analysis. I know there are a lot of bugs around sunnyside, but why not find out what’s the source and eliminate it, instead of trying to spray everyone? Is it coming from ghetto’s with their standing water? Somewhere around the cemetery maybe?
You are an idiot who probably has never taken a science course.
Your credibility evaporated once you wrote “us conspiracy theorists”. Now please go put on a tinfoil hat, grasp your fluoride-free toothpaste, and listen to the radio broadcasts coming out of your teeth.
If the city would play ice cream truck theme songs and hitch a trailer for kids hay rides while spraying pesticides it would be more exciting for the community.
Grow up
Actually you need to grow up and educate yourself on these types of issues. Especially when your health is at risk.
boo hoo the sky is falling
Sheeple
I am actually very well educated which is why I do not panic as a first reaction to everything. Again grow up.
Why? Why is this necessary again?! Enough with the poison!
thanks to people like you getting into a hissy fit over DDT we now have a massive amount of bedbugs…yes DDT is the best killer of bedbugs
People like me? I bring in the bed bugs? Clean your sheets, your home and watch what hotel you go to.
yes stupid environmentalists ban perfectly good chemicals that actually work, and replace them with ones that do a half azzed job at double triple the price…or more!!!!.