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Consumer Alert: Toxic Chemicals to be Sprayed Over San Francisco

I am angry! On January 24th, 2008, United States Department of (USDA) Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner announced the availability of $74.5 million in emergency funding to combat the light brown apple moth (LBAM) infestation in California (1). This announcement comes in conjunction with the release of the California Department of Agriculture's (CDFA) expanded aerial spray zone, which includes the entire cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Berkley and many others.

Following is a link to a recently published proposal of spray boundaries, the yellow lines indicating the proposed spray zones ( . More than two million people who live in these and other targeted cities are scheduled to be exposed this spring or summer to chemicals that that have never been tested on humans or animals before.


Apparently the CDFA or the USDA, or both, decided that the previous chemical formula's used, Checkmate LBAM-F and Checkmate OLR-F were not good enough, which really points to the fact that the past two aerial sprays in Monterey, and the one in Santa Cruz County, were a waste of time and money, in addition to the severe health reactions experienced by thousands of people from chemical exposure.

These chemicals have not undergone thorough safety evaluations, and do not just simply evaporate, but are designed to hang in the air 30-90 days or more. Such chemical applications are of most concern to pregnant women, in which even a minute dosage of a disrupting chemical can cause grave harm to the fetus. This is over and above the real concern for people who are trying to live a chemical-free lifestyle and who won't be able to escape the hundreds of square miles of densely populated areas to be sprayed, or for those who are sensitive to chemicals, or who are in poor health.

The chemicals sprayed are a plastic encapsulated microtechnology; the microscopic plastic dust, once sprayed, deeply enters the mouth, eyes, skin and lungs. Even after 90 days and several rains, some people in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties are still experiencing symptoms of spray poisoning. When they leave the counties, their symptoms many times abate. This aerial program is a real sword through the heart of democracy and decency. The government has really gone too far and it must be stopped now.


If you are not familiar with this heinous program, let me bring you up to date. In the beginning of last year, a taxonomist identified the presence of a non native moth species (LBAM) in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The moth may have been present in California for a long time, nobody knows for sure as detailed studies were never attempted. The entrance of the moth was likely due to lax boundaries from plant goods imported from New Zealand or Australia; in other words, it is the USDA's fault and responsibility for having allowed the moth in. In Hawaii, the moth has existed for the past hundred years without doing any harm to the local ecosystem, and without the need for the government to try to stop the moth. In fact it is considered harmless or benign to the environment, the moth does not transmit diseases or harm humans or animals in any way.

Originally, the USDA announced that the moth might cause $100 million in crop damage if allowed to multiply. This estimate of 100 million was based on a single worst year of estimated LBAM damage from over a decade ago in Australia. Australian crop damage figures have little meaning in California, as the climate is different and the moth damage in Australia varies from year to year; it is relatively minor in any case. Even if this $100 million crop loss did come true, one has to consider that $90 million has now been ear marked to contain the moth, primarily the funds are for aerial spraying chemicals on cities which contain people, and not crops like apples, oranges and grapes.

It is unanimous from pest control experts (except the ones employed by the government) that the apple moth cannot be eradicated, but can only be controlled. Thus this makes the entire aerial experiment an expression of a collective evil. Many of the targeted cities are not reasonably close to any type of apple, orange or grape vineyards. To this day, there has been zero dollars of reported crop damage as a direct result from the LBAM presence in California. Clearly something fishy is going. Federal and state governments are adamant with their efforts to douse everybody with chemicals for a relatively minute amount of moths.

Additional funds have gone to the CDFA's public relations campaign, which among other things, involves travel money and putting up the CDFA's senior officials, like the outlaw leader Secretary A.G. Kawamura in nice hotels, and paying for their meals at restaurants and their travel expenses as they go around the state and lie to people about the need for and safety of this moth spray program. No money has been earmarked to pay for medical costs or even research to determine if people are getting sick. This is because the CDFA simply assumes that this product is safe. They base their safety assumption on a bogus "consensus document" that was created by the Department of Pesticide Review only after several aerial sprays. The document contains little evidence, and a lot of opinions. What is of grave concern is the decision to spray never-before tested pesticides on people, and in cities, funded and supported by the USDA and EPA, which CDFA is carrying out.

Let me repeat this because just this fact is so shocking it is hard to comprehend. People in California are being subjected to biochemical, microscopic moth warfare. The reported microcapsule size of the aerial mating disrupter is as small as 10 microns and averages 25-35 microns in size for an undeployed moth spray. This size is coming dangerously close to micro-sized particles that are used to evade the body's defensive systems for biological weapons, those are reported to be 3-4 microns in size. Even with horrible tracking methodologies, and blatant lies to the public to fool people about the danger of the aerial spray, 643 illnesses were documented ( from Monterey and Santa Cruz counties in the 2007 aerial spray campaigns. It makes sense that people would get sick because these minute particles can easily get absorbed deep within the body. So the effect of a small amount of chemical can be magnified many times. But you know, that assertion is hypothetical, because nobody has ever done any legitimate testing to see whether the chemicals in the microcapsules could affect human health.

These 643 reports represent a fraction of the real injuries, the actual spray has caused thousands to be poisoned from this biochemical formulation. See my related article ( . Despite these reports which include 330 official illness claims filed with the CDFA, the CDFA states the following lies on their website, "Pheromones are extremely safe," and "Public safety is the primary concern." The statement that pheromones are safe is a lie. Sure, pheromones can be safe when used responsibly, for example a benign moth trap in an apple orchard that contains pheromones to attract the moths. But when you create a microscopic biodegradable ball of volatile chemicals, and then place within it a synthetic moth pheromone, which itself is described as an explosive chemical, you have more of a drug which can interact and create changes within the human body, than a pesticide. Furthermore, no thorough investigation has been done of these 330 official illness complaints, and some of these people have not yet recovered.

One must realize that any documentation regarding the safety of pheromones reported is from non-aerial applications, such as a moth sticky trap that is scented with pheromones and stuck on a tree, or a pheromone laced twist tie applied to apple orchards or vineyards. The last aerial application was reported to contain 10-20% of the "safe" pheromone, and 80-90% "other ingredients". These safety assertions also do not relate to the method of application. A sticky trap laced with pheromone is a different entity than a microscopic ball that is designed to biodegrade with pheromone encapsulated within it. Several of the Checkmate ingredients have yet to be disclosed to the public under trade secret laws.

The newly tested chemicals, which are scheduled for either the spring or summer time to be sprayed on millions, similarly will not be disclosed to the public. We do not even know what this stuff is? How can the government say the chemicals are safe, and then hide the ingredients from scrutiny? If these chemicals are so safe why not tell us honestly what it is? Clearly the intention of the CDFA, USDA, and EPA, is to cover up the real nature of this biochemical assault. They are trying to hide what they do from the public's eye. They do not want you to know the truth. The truth is people get sick. Not everybody gets sick from the moth spray, but many people do. Its effects can be strong and violent.

The deepest concern is regarding the distribution method of the pheromone. The pheromone is encapsulated in a miniature and highly volatile plastic ball. According to a recent UC Davis study paid for by the CDFA, the microcapsules from an unsprayed batch of Checkmate LBAM-F ranged in size from 10 to 190 microns. Over time, these particles can average 25-35 microns in size, shrink and degrade into more dangerous sizes, which fall under the category of particle pollution. Miniature particles between 2.5-10 microns in size, especially from pesticides, are known to cause both short term and long term health effects, including decreased overall life span. Again, nobody as yet knows how small the degraded microcapsules are, or how this will effect people in the short and long term, because no such testing exists. In essence, people have been subjected to a biological and chemical experiment. This is insane!

The CDFA reports that they want their newest moth weapon deployed this spring and summer, to be even longer lasting, which to me means that the microcapsules will be even more dangerous, possibly indefinitely sticking in the environment, and irritating people's sensitive ducts and glands; like the eye's and the nose, much like allergies from pollen. In each aerial application, billions of these volatile balls are launched into the environment, sprayed by planes contracted through Dynamic Aviation ( , which has other specialties beyond aerial application of pesticides. They also do "Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance." The spraying is conducted at a height of between 500-800 feet and residents in the sprayed area report feeling like they are in a war zone. Once in contact with residential neighborhoods, parks, and playgrounds, the balls slowly disintegrate over time releasing pheromones designed to confuse the moth's mating patterns.

Typically a drug takes many years for the Food and Drug Administration to approve for safety for humans. Under an emergency declaration, the EPA can exclude new chemicals from rigorous testing. These laws were designed for agricultural emergencies and are being violently misused because they are planning on spraying large urban populations and not apple orchards. The EPA and USDA have flagrantly crossed legal and ethical boundaries by applying laws designed for agricultural fields to densely inhabited city centers.

Further, consider that the testing of these chemicals is not done to make sure that it is safe for humans, as the safety is merely an untested assumption. As an example, it took several months after the first aerial spray of Monterey County for the CDFA to pay the University of California Davis to see if the Checkmate formula was toxic to certain very small ocean insects. It took several months for this first test of the Checkmate formula, already sprayed on well over two hundred thousand people, to be conducted. The testing being conducted in New Zealand is not to ensure safety for humans, but to see if the mating habits of the moths are disrupted. This spraying is approved by the EPA despite the fact that there are specific laws to prohibit chemical testing on pregnant women and children ( . "EPA's rules make it clear that all pregnant women, all nursing women, and all children are excluded from all studies involving intentional exposure that are intended for submission under the pesticide laws." If the EPA cannot test pesticides on pregnant women, nursing women, and children, then under what jurisdiction and authority can they simply expose pregnant women, nursing women and children with untested pesticides?


To see this insanity clearly let's examine the moth population. In San Francisco County, 3,501 moths total have been trapped and killed. The entire city of San Francisco, whose population is 744,041, is in the proposed spray boundaries. About 744,000 people are to be exposed to unsafe microencapsulated pheromones, for several years, to try to control the mating habits in a city which had a total of 3,501 moths found over the past 8 months. This is really a needle in the haystack approach to pest control. Keep in mind, each moth found, is a moth that has been trapped and exterminated ( . In Alameda County, 431 months have been found in the past 8 months out of 2,327 traps. The moth population in Alameda County is thus sparse at best. Just look out your window. Imagine how many insects are in the tree, the yard, or the local park. I have seen more than 431 ants crawl into my kitchen on a rainy day. So in a giant area of 141 square miles, and the tens or hundreds of millions of insects in that zone, to try to eradicate such a minuscule pest by just spraying chemicals everywhere is ridiculous and unsafe.


Here's how I suggest you take action:

* Share this information with your friends and neighbors.

* Don't be fooled when the CDFA says that the "pheromone" is safe. I have been poisoned myself by these microcapsules, and so has my family, it is a terrible feeling. Ask for test results to show it is safe for humans, you'll see they have none.


*State and Federal representatives can also design an independent committee to come up with non-biased recommendations. The CDFA created such a working group, but they strangely seem to believe that aerial spraying people to stop moths from mating is a good idea.

*Gather your local city council members' support. Use local resources to conduct research, and file lawsuits against the state.





People can be alarmed, and if cities take equitable action, we do not need to be afraid. For example, we pay taxes so we can have a fire and police department to protect ourselves from crime. Why not use the police force to protect residents from government sponsored crimes?


This is a cover-up.

The LBAM infestation is a monumental hoax (Yes there are LBAMs, the hoax is that the only solution is to spray chemicals on cities).

I pray for grace for everyone, so that people in the proposed spray zones remain safe from harm, and that those who are inspired to take action to stop this be inspired to act effectively, with humility, strength and compassion.

Take Action


Important websites were you can learn more and take action include:

( ­ On the right hand column of this website is a portal to CASS. You can find many ways to participate and help the cause. Also contains the most relevant information.

( ­ My LBAM site.

( ­ Lots of documentation and recent news postings.

( ­ Sign the petition to stop the spray!


Roy Upton, California Alliance to Stop the Spray (CASS) 831-461-6317,

Bonnie Keet, California Alliance to Stop the Spray (CASS)


Call Governor Schwarzenegger and tell him what you think of his policies. Voice: (916) 445-2841 2841 (press #1, #5, #0) Fax: (916) 445-4633

Senator Diane Feinstein San Fransisco Office - (415) 393-0707

Senator Barbara Boxer San Fransisco Office - (415) 403-0100

Democracy Now! They want to here our stories, (



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About the author
Rami Nagel is the author of "Cure Tooth Decay: Heal And Prevent Cavities With Nutrition," which teaches readers how to reclaim their dental health. Learn the real cause and cure for cavities and root canals at:
Rami is a father who cares about the way we affect each other, our children, and our planet through our lifestyle choices. His health background is in hands-on energy healing, Hatha & Bhakti yoga and the Pathwork. Rami is author of several health resources: - Learn the Cause and Prevention of the Diseases of Pregnancy and Childhood - A Program for Preconception Health based on Indigenous Wisdom - Heal and Prevent Cavities with Nutrition! - The cause of disease and the end of suffering of humanity.

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