Malathion is a pesticide
Malathion is a man-made organophosphate insecticide that is commonly used to control mosquitoes and a variety of insects that attack fruits, vegetables, landscaping plants, and shrubs. It can also be found in other pesticide products used indoors and on pets to control ticks and insects, such as fleas and ants.
Malathion(CAS NO:121-75-5) is the active ingredient in mosquitocontrol products including Fyfanon and Atrapa. These products contain over 95% malathion and are often applied undiluted. However, they may be diluted with a petroleum solvent similar to kerosene before application, in which case petroleum solvent will make up most of the pesticide solution.
Because pesticide products are inherently toxic, no pesticide exposure is risk free. The likelihood of experiencing adverse health effects from exposure to any pesticide, including malathion, depends primarily on the amount of pesticide that a person contacts and the amount of time the person is in contact with that pesticide. In addition, a person's age, sex, genetic makeup, life style and/ or general health characteristics can affect his or her likelihood of experiencing adverse health effects as a result of exposure to pesticides.
Malathion(CAS NO:121-75-5) is a pesticide that is widely used in agriculture, residential landscaping, public recreation areas, and in public health pest control programs such as mosquito eradication.In the US, it is the most commonly used organophosphate insecticide.
Malathion was used in the 1980s in California to combat the Mediterranean Fruit Fly. This was accomplished on a wide scale by the near weekly aerial spraying of suburban communities for a period of several months. Formations of three or four agricultural helicopters would overfly suburban portions of Alameda County, San Bernardino County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, San Joaquin County, Stanislaus County, and Merced County releasing a mixture of malathion and corn syrup, the corn syrup being a bait for the fruit flies. Malathion has also been used to combat the Mediterranean fruit fly in Australia.
Malathion was sprayed in many cities to combat West Nile virus. In the Fall of 1999 and the Spring of 2000, Long Island and the five boroughs of New York City were sprayed with several pesticides, one of which was malathion. While it was claimed by some anti-pesticide groups that use of these pesticides caused a lobster die-off in Long Island Sound, there is no conclusive evidence yet to support this.
Manitoba ordered the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba to be sprayed in July 2005 as part of the West Nile virus campaign. Prior to this, malathion was used over the last couple of decades on a regular basis during summer months to kill nuisance mosquitoes, but homeowners were allowed to exempt their properties if they chose. Today, Winnipeg is the only major city in Canada with an ongoing Malathion nuisance-adult-mosquito-control program.
Malathion is applied at very low concentrations to control mosquitoes.Malathion is unlikely that adverse health effects will occur as a result of this use for most people, but some individuals may experience health effects. For these reasons, individuals should consider taking steps to minimize their exposure to malathion if it is applied to control mosquitoes.
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