Is Mosquito Spraying Safe?

Officials are saying the pesticides sprayed at Marlborough's parks and fields pose no threat to people during the day following night time spraying.

“What we spray that night will be gone from the environment the next day,” said Tim Deschamps, the executive director of the Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control Project (CMMCP) that is conducting the spraying. “The last thing we would want to do is increase the risk from anything else.”

The decision was made in conjunction with city officials to conduct night time spraying of all the city's parks and fields. These are the areas with the highest concentration of people doing outdoor activities and thus a concentration of risk of exposure to mosquito-borne illnesses, said Deschamps.

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The spraying is done using the same kind of pesticide that residents could buy at a local hardware store, he said. It is not a residual use pesticide.

While the spraying is going on it is important that people not be in the area of the spraying and have their house windows shut, said Deschamps. The technicians conducting the spraying will shut down their machines if the see people in the area or windows open and this will limit the effectiveness of the pesticides, he said.

“We are also trying to get the best app possible," he said.

The decision came as the city continues to be at a high risk for diseases such as West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). The high risk indicates "multiple cases of human disease are considered likely at this time" according to the DPH.

The threat of the diseases will not be gone until hard frosts have killed off the mosquitoes, said Deschamps.

“People through October need to be aware mosquito risk might be out there,” he said.