Tiny Mosquito

Mosquito Control Products

Since mosquitoes and other annoying insects often prevent outdoor enjoyment, it may be tempting to simply spray your property with chemical pesticides and install bug-zappers to deal with the problem. However, some mosquito control products can contain potentially harmful chemicals that can contaminate air and water, causing more harm than good.

Chemicals in Mosquito Control Products
A pesticide is used to harm or kill a particular pest. Certain kinds of pesticides are released into the air to kill adult mosquitoes, while others are used in water to kill mosquito larvae and pupae (mosquito eggs). The pesticides that are used to kill mosquitoes in the beginning stages of life are called larvicides.

Pesticides and larvicides not only contain active ingredients designed to kill a targeted pest, but they also have inert ingredients that can be toxic or carcinogenic. There are 3700 “inert” chemicals that can be legally concealed in mosquito control products. Although many are deemed safe for the general population, the tests on these products often focus on the acute effects on humans and animals, and not on the chronic effects. Furthermore, researchers study the effects of a single chemical (not the effects of multiple combinations of chemicals) on healthy individuals exposed to the chemical over a short period of time (not over a long period of time).

Numerous health hazards are associated with exposure to pesticides:

Increased risk of leukemia
Certain forms of cancers (brain, lung, testicular, lymphoma)
Decreased fertility
decreased sperm count
Immune system disturbances such as asthma and allergies

Bug Zappers
Those who are worried about exposure to chemical-laden mosquito control products such as pesticides and larvicides sometimes choose to install bug zappers on their property to rid themselves of annoying pests. Mosquitoes are attracted to the light of the bug zapping device which is designed to electrocute insects that attempt to land on it.

Although the machine does not involve the spraying of chemicals, it does have its disadvantages:

It has the potential to lure an even greater number of mosquitoes into your yard
It only attracts the male mosquito and not the female. The female, being the only one that bites, is attracted to humans and not light. It searches for warmth and carbon dioxide, neither of which is emitted by bug zappers.
It can interfere with the many other species of beneficial insects that reside in your area and create an undesirable effect on the general environment as many birds prey on mosquitoes and insects for food.
When a bug is “zapped”, its body explodes into many pieces, freeing potential bacteria that, as some studies have suggested, can be harmful for humans when inhaled.

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