Politics & Government

New Law Limits Mosquito Mitigation Along Long Island Sound

Citing "lobster die-off", the chemicals used to prevent mosquito growth are now restricted.

Governor Dannel Malloy has signed a bill into law restricting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved tools used by state and local governments to control mosquitoe populations and mosquito borne disease. 

House Bill 6441, includes limitations on the use of the larvicide methoprene and adulticide resmethrin in coastal areas. The law exempts New Haven from the restriction, but will apply to all other municipalities, including New London, within 1,000 feet of the Long Island Sound, according to a press release from the American Mosquito Control Association.  

Methoprene is applied in standing water, specifically catch basins, as the leading tool to combat West Nile virus (WNV) and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), by preventing mosquitoes from developing into flying, biting adults that spread disease. Resmethrin has been in use, without incident, since its registration by the EPA in 1967, said the release. 

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The release also says that there has been no scientific evidence of actual adverse impacts to lobsters from operational resmethrin applications, science-based modeling has failed to project such impacts, and according to the EPA carcinogenicity is not observed at mosquito application rates. 

State Rep. Tom Vicino, a democrat who represents Clinton co-sponsored the law. State Rep. Elissa Wright, a democrat who represents New London also co-sponsored the law and  released a statement saying that “A catastrophic lobster die-off in the fall of 1999 corresponded with the application of a pesticide cocktail including these compounds to the western Long Island Sound watershed area during that summer for the control of mosquitoes that carried West Nile virus, a new and emerging disease at the time, leading to concerns about the potential for a relationship between these insecticides and toxic effects on lobsters.” 

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 “It’s ironic that methoprene is considered by the EPA – and even the World Health Organization – to be safe for use on food products and in drinking water but is no longer considered safe in Connecticut catch basins to do its job preventing disease by controlling mosquitoes,” said Joe Conlon, technical advisor for the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA). “This law threatens public health and is based on the opinion and suspicions of a handful of lobstermen – not on repeated, reputable and independent science that has proven methoprene to be safe and effective…” 

The American Mosquito Control Association claims that last year was the worst in more than a decade for WNV and EEE cases across the U.S. Connecticut had its highest number of WNV cases in 2012, with numbers doubling in a single year. 

According to the state Department of Public Health, the most recent human case of West Nile Virus in Middlesex County was in Madison in 2010. It is the fourth recorded case in the county since the state began keeping records in 2000. 

AMCA Encourages You to Remember the 3 D’s to Mosquito Prevention: 

  • DUMP and DRAIN: Eliminate standing water where mosquitoes can breed
  • DUSK and DAWN:  Stay indoors when mosquitoes are most active
  • DEFEND: Prevent mosquito bites by wearing approved insect repellents


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