Since first hearing that my family lives in one of the areas set to be aerially sprayed by the California Department of Food And Agriculture in 2008, I have been cycling through so many unpleasant and difficult emotions. As I read the statements coming from the petition to stop the LBAM aerial spraying, it’s easy to recognize that thousands and thousands of Californians share my mental distress.

Our opponent in this crisis - the California Department of Agriculture - has been described as cold, deaf, uncaring, robotic, dismissive in response to the voiced concerns of the people of California and their local civic governments. I have seen the blank faces and heard the deafening silence that greets the entreaties of men and women, mothers and fathers, young people and elders. It’s a chilling experience, a reception with the power to dehumanize us. Few things are as painful or damaging in this life as turning to someone when you’re frightened and hurting and being met without compassion or basic consideration.

Because millions of Californians are being treated without regard for their value or humanity, are being given the message that their lives, their hopes, their dreams and their loved ones are of less worth to the State than the doings of an insect, I want to take a moment here to validate the many emotions I am seeing my neighbors experiencing and that I am experiencing myself.

Here are some of the psychological difficulties you may be having right now as a result of the impending aerial spraying of California.

Disillusionment
I am repeatedly hearing patriotic Americans state that they have just lost faith in our government. They can’t believe that the California or U.S. government would do this to us, its citizens. This can’t be happening here, people are saying. Entire outlooks and world views are being changed for people who are trying to cope with the reality that our own government would spray us against our stated will. You are not alone if you are feeling this way.

Feeling Attacked
Many Americans are calling this an attack on the people by the government. People are feeling threatened and endangered. The citizens of Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties who were sprayed in 2007 vividly depicted what it feels like to have airplanes flying at 500 ft. over their homes again and again, night after night, knowing that carcinogens were being dumped on them. Some, in fact, thought that perhaps an air raid siren would warn them when the planes were coming. In other words, people feel like they are the targets in a war. It is not wrong to feel this way if you find that you do.

Powerlessness
People who feel like they are being attacked are also experiencing a unique sense of powerlessness because the aggressor is our own government. There is no one to turn to for protection, and without becoming criminals, there is no way to defend one’s family and home from the actions of the government agency carrying out the spraying. Many adults are wrestling with severe feelings of powerlessness to protect their children, their elderly parents and themselves from exposure to aerial toxins. It is understandable if you find yourself feeling frustrated and powerless.

Depression
Because we are Americans, we have been raised to believe that we are a free people, as stated in our Constitution, with the right to pursue and obtain safety and happiness. We attempt to organize our lives in the best way we can, in the belief that we will have clean air to breathe and non-toxic water and food to sustain us. Because these basic rights are being taken away by a government agency, our view of life and its meaning may also be changing drastically. This may cause Californians to become depressed about the prospect of the future. You may find yourself wondering what the point is of finishing school, working for a raise, raising a family, pursuing a special vocation or any of the normal activities of modern life because of the public health hazard being created by the CDFA. Many Californians already live in great fear of cancers which have become so prevalent in our society. That CDFA is knowingly increasing the toxicity of our environment is certainly depressing and may dim citizens’ hopes for healthy futures. You aren’t alone if you are feeling depressed.

Fear, Terror
The American people are still reeling emotionally from the violation of the 9-11 attacks. Our feelings of safety were robbed from us overnight by this act of unpardonable violence. One of the things that is wounding me most about the actions of our government is that it would subject us to the specter of airplanes flying over cities against the will of the people. Rather than attempting to help us recover our feelings of safety, the government is terrifying the people of California in a manner that is, to me, terribly reminiscent of the horrors that happened in New York. Our government should be doing everything it can in this decade to help us regain our confidence. Instead, millions of Californians are being put in a situation of terror. You are not wrong not to want to feel terrorized. It is not at all strange if you are feeling anxious, panicked or frightened right now.

Angry and Violent Feelings
Beneath the civil words and entreaties being raised to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, there is a terrible and dark anger. The people of the Monterey Bay region were absolutely outraged that their concerns and then their illnesses were dismissed. It is very normal that humans feel angry when others refuse to recognize their rights. Throughout history, people have gone to tremendous lengths to protect themselves and their loved ones from others who violate the human need for safety, and it is very understandable if you are discovering you feel terribly angry that the government is causing you or your family harm.

I am, however, extremely worried about the fact that anger often leads to violence. I am particularly concerned about regions of the Bay Area which already suffer from epidemic violence and have encountered craigslist postings threatening criminal acts of violence against the airplanes that will be flying over places like Oakland and San Francisco. This must not happen. People making such threats should think their way through to the outcomes of such activities. For example, if someone chose to shoot down a plane over Oakland, the plane would likely crash into the city, killing untold numbers of innocent people. Violence is never the answer.

That being said, righteous feelings of anger against injustice are a positive thing and can be utilized to energize societies who need to struggle for justice. Mahatma Gandhi managed to win freedom for India from unjust oppressors and Martin Luther King Jr. won civil rights for African Americans - and they did it with non-violent, non-cooperation. This is the route that civilized people must follow if they want good outcomes. Any other route simply plays into the very wrongdoing people are trying to fight when they stand up to injustice. So, while it is perfectly right for you to feel angry when you perceive that you are being abused, it is vital that you use that legitimate anger to fuel positive, non-violent action, not brute violence.

Because domestic violence is such a scourge in this country, I want to be sure to add to this that if you feel your anger getting out of control, do the responsible thing and seek counseling for anger management. Very often, when we are feeling rage, we may be tempted to take it out on the nearest person. Keep it firmly in mind that your spouse, your children, your loved ones are also likely feeling upset right now and the last thing they need is for you to turn on them in violence because you can’t seem to control your own anger. Now is the time to be treating everyone you care for with twice the consideration and love you normally do. We need to stick together and be kind to one another while we are in the midst of this crisis.

Feelings of Despair
We have all understood by now that, despite their valiant efforts, the people of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties were unable to stop the CDFA from subjecting them to aerial spraying of toxins. It may feel very hopeless to you right now that the SF Bay Area stands any better chance at stopping the spraying. Many have expressed the belief that even if we stop the CDFA, the USDA will appear on the scene and choose to spray us anyway. Feelings of depression, hopelessness and powerlessness may escalate into a very strong sense of despair. I would urge you to try to believe that if you dedicate yourself and your time to fighting this, there is still hope that we can stop it, but if you find yourself slipping into heavy despair and beginning to experience suicidal thoughts, please, get help. Contact a suicide hotline: 1-800-SUICIDE or 1-800-784-2433 so that you can speak to someone about what you are going through. I would add, please hang in there. We need you in this battle for justice. We need every single one of you.

Stress from enforced life changes
Many Californians will determine to change their lives because of the spraying. For example, many citizens have had to leave their homes in Central California. This has meant losing properties, jobs, friends, support systems and so much else that they hold dear. Life changes of this kind can be extremely stressful, even if they result in better safety or health. It is not at all odd that people who feel forced to evacuate will be experiencing many difficult emotions.

Feeling Confused, Trapped, Bewildered
Many of us do not know what we should do at this point, and are hanging in there to see if the 5 Bills and 1 measure being presented will be adopted to protect us from the spraying. Our lives may feel like they are in limbo right now. For many others, even if the spray is not halted, there is no possibility of fleeing to safety due to living arrangements, disabilities, financial concerns or other factors. What I find myself personally struggling with is that there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to go. If I move to the Central Valley region, aerial spraying for agriculture would be a part of daily life because of the conventional food belt there. If I move to the forested mountain regions of the state, the government departments will constantly be spraying toxins on the wild lands. I know I won’t be safe anywhere on the coast, because of the ever-growing coastal spray zone. Basically, there is no place in the state for me to refugee to, so far as my research indicates and I’m feeling very, very trapped. My family is in a state of confusion and disorder because of the actions of the government and I so resent this. We want this madness to stop so that we can go back to living our normal lives, but we find ourselves with no choice beyond waiting it out. We are feeling pretty bewildered right now and can certainly identify with you if you are, too.

These are the emotions I was able to think of off the top of my head and from speaking to others. It may be that you are having a different experience. Everyone is different. My goal in writing this has been to say that I hear you and that your life has value to me. I want to counteract the dehumanizing message and actions of the CDFA. We are worth so much more than they allow.

Please, I invite you to use the comments field of this post to share anything you are feeling right now. It can really help people to know that others are in the same boat and I want you to know how welcome you are here. I want you to feel you have a place to talk and to be taken seriously. You deserve no less.

As American citizens and residents of California, we are guaranteed certain inalienable rights. Both the U.S. Constitution and the California Constitution state that we have these rights. I invite you to read the following items to better understand why you have a right not to be aerially sprayed by the California Department of Agriculture. (*emphases added by author, below)

The Constitution of the United States of America

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves
and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Section 1

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,
are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities
of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty,
or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.

How Does This Apply to the Aerial Spraying of Americans?

1) We cannot enjoy domestic tranquility when our loved ones are sickened by a carcinogenic biochemical spray. Our children cannot be tranquil with airplanes flying over their homes, forcing them to inhale documented toxins, synthetics and plastics into their lungs. Our domestic situations are no longer free when third parties are permitted to douse our private properties with dangerous chemicals, against our stated wishes.

2) The general welfare of Americans is not being protected when international trade issues and the private interests of a select few wealthy men are being given priority over public health. As has been documented by accredited, independent scientists, the presence of the Light Brown Apple Moth presents no threat to California’s food or water sources, nor to their health. In stark contrast, the special interests determining to benefit financially from the spraying of Californians have caused serious documented medical harm to the people of California, to all farmers attempting to grow organic food for the people, and to our precious wildlife. The general populace is not being protected because of financial concerns.

3) We are deprived of liberty when we are told we have no vote as to whether we will consent to be aerially sprayed with carcinogens. Additionally, the spraying has already caused the near-death of an American infant boy and represents a serious, documented danger of fatality, whether immediately or in the long term, for all persons who may develop cancer or other diseases as a result of being exposed to the carcinogens and mutagens contained in the aerial spray compound.

California Constitution

ARTICLE 1 DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

SECTION 1. All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.

How Does This Apply to the Aerial Spraying of Californians?

We are not free when government agencies inform us that they will spray us against our stated will. Our liberty and lives are at stake in this crisis when substances known to cause cancer which leads to death are being introduced into our air, our watershed and our bodies. We have been told by the California Department of Agriculture, with the permission of the Governor of California, that we have no right to protect our private property from the trespass of low flying airplanes, polluting our private lands with their chemicals. This section of the California Constitution guarantees our right to obtain safety, despite the opinions and motivations of CDFA, our governor or any other entity.

We call upon the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the CDFA and USDA to obey the constitutions of our nations and states. We know our rights under these cherished documents and we insist that they be upheld by all citizens and governing agencies.

In addition to the two constitution, we also put forward the 10 points of the Nuremberg Code which were established at the end of WWII to protect human beings from ever being experimented upon again without their consent.

From Wikipedia:

Although the legal force of the document was not established and it was not incorporated directly into either the American or German law, the Nuremberg Code and the related Declaration of Helsinki are the basis for the Code of Federal Regulations Title 45 Volume 46[1], which are the regulations issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services governing federally funded research in the United States. In addition, the Nuremberg code has also been incorporated into the law of individual states such as California, and other countries.

1. The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision. This latter element requires that before the acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject there should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonable to be expected; and the effects upon his health or person which may possibly come from his participation in the experiment. The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each individual who initiates, directs or engages in the experiment. It is a personal duty and responsibility which may not be delegated to another with impunity.

2. The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and not random and unnecessary in nature.

3. The experiment should be so designed and based on the results of animal experimentation and a knowledge of the natural history of the disease or other problem under study that the anticipated results will justify the performance of the experiment.

4. The experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury.

5. No experiment should be conducted where there is an a priori reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur; except, perhaps, in those experiments where the experimental physicians also serve as subjects.

6. The degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment.

7. Proper preparations should be made and adequate facilities provided to protect the experimental subject against even remote possibilities of injury, disability, or death.

8. The experiment should be conducted only by scientifically qualified persons. The highest degree of skill and care should be required through all stages of the experiment of those who conduct or engage in the experiment.

9. During the course of the experiment the human subject should be at liberty to bring the experiment to an end if he has reached the physical or mental state where continuation of the experiment seems to him to be impossible.

10. During the course of the experiment the scientist in charge must be prepared to terminate the experiment at any stage, if he has probable cause to believe, in the exercise of the good faith, superior skill and careful judgment required of him that a continuation of the experiment is likely to result in injury, disability, or death to the experimental subject.

How Does This Apply to the Aerial Spraying of Human Beings?
The people of Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties have already been sprayed with an untested combination of biochemicals against the stated will of the people and their civic governments, in violation of the Nuremberg Code which is upheld as a humane standard by enlightened and humane nations. The majority of the cities and counties set to be sprayed beginning in June of 2008 have already expressed in profound terms that they do not consent to aerial spraying and refuse to be the subjects in a human experiment. The California Department of Agriculture is, again, intending to act in total opposition to the 10 points of the Nuremberg Code. They must be held accountable for this decision to utterly disregard California’s adoption of the Nuremberg Code as the humane standard set in place to protect free people from experimentation without consent.

In a population of 659,911 human beings (Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties), 643 individuals reported health harm from the aerial spraying of their homes and persons. This represents .1% of the population who were able to find a way to report their immediate illnesses. 7 million people live in the area scheduled to be sprayed in 2008, and basic math indicates that public health servants may expect some 7,000 reports of physical harm from the spraying, in addition to the many cases of harm that will go undocumented due to a critical lack of health insurance coverage in California.

We must prevent the innocent children, men and women of California from being physically harmed by the actions of the CDFA in violation of the California and U.S. Constitutions and the Nuremberg Code. Government bodies must uphold the very laws which were created by governments to protect the free people of this nation. If they refuse to do this, we are no longer living in a Democratic Republic with a recognized constitution.

Please, phone Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today at 1 (916) 445-2841 and ask him to uphold the Constitutions of the United States and California and the Nuremberg Code. It’s the law.

We were so impressed by this video of Michael Lynberg, the man who took on the responsibility of compiling the health complaints of the 643 people who reported illness after the 2007 aerial spraying of the Monterey Bay Region of California:

We sincerely appreciate Michael’s efforts to serve his neighbors. He is truly a good Samaritan.

Sierra Club: Traitors to Human and Environmental Health

In a disturbing and disappointing turn of events, the Sierra Club has betrayed the people and wildlife of California by changing their once-decent position on aerial spraying. You can read the whole sickening letter from David Perry here. Here is the epistle’s most horrific paragraph:

(The Sierra Club) Does not oppose the policy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to utilize nontoxic integrated pest management methods including aerial application of microencapsulate pheromones in an effort to eradicate LBAM from the United States. It is an essential part of the program in highly infested areas of significant size.

It might as well have been written by CDFA’s Kawamura…putting ‘nontoxic’ and pheromones in the same sentence when every independent doctor and scientist who has spoken against the spraying has talked themselves hoarse now explaining that the ingredients in the odious spray are SYNTHETIC and HIGHLY TOXIC to humans and animals.

What a bunch of cowards the Sierra Club people are. Clearly, someone has told them they will be benefited in some unspeakable way by checking their ethics at the door and saying it’s okay to spray 7 million human beings and the state’s precious wildlife with:

• Particulate plastic that lodges deeply in the lungs, forever!
• Carcinogens
• Mutagens
• Synthetic Chemicals

The Sierra Club absolutely knows that they are aping their CDFA cronies in applying the innocuous sounding word ‘pheromone’ to what is, in fact, a witch’s brew of grossly harmful substances. They know this. But, they have just told me, and you, that they don’t care that we will all be sprayed with this.

Boycott the Sierra Club for Supporting Crimes Against Humanity
Call them at: 1 415-977-5500
Tell them how outraged you are over them chickening out and failing the people of California
Revoke your membership if you have one and tell them why.

It is completely embarrassing to see the Sierra Club going along with the myth that the Light Brown Apple Moth will harm our state and that it must be eradicated when every non-party scientist who has researched this has long since proved that the moth is NO threat to our food, trees or plants of any kind. The Sierra Club looks like a bunch of clowns for claiming that aerial spraying of 7 million people is an essential part of eradicating infested areas. Infested! Just listen to the fear-mongering language they’ve chosen to adopt. The Sierra Club is a disgrace.

Perhaps most repugnant of all is the way in which David Perry signs his letter with the slogan:

Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet

I’d like to suggest a new slogan for the Sierra Club:

Exploit, Destroy and Sicken the Planet

I am completely outraged over the turncoat, cowardly actions of the Sierra Club and hope you will join us in letting them know just how unacceptable their phony-science position is. And, when you’re in the back of an ambulance, rushing your 5 year old son to the ER because he can’t breathe after being force-fed particulate plastic, please remember to send a thank you note to the Sierra Club for saying it’s perfectly fine that this should happen.

Reader and radio host Rose Aguilar of KALW 91.7 FM writes in:

Thanks for an excellent site! Depressing info, but incredibly informative. I’m doing a radio show tomorrow about the spraying and stumbled upon your site while doing research. I’m also vegan, so I’m glad I found you.
The show airs tomorrow from 11 am - noon on KALW 91.7 FM.
You can find more info here:
http://www.yourcallradio.org/
Thanks again and feel free to call in tomorrow…

Thank you, Rose, for giving your time to cover this issue. It is much appreciated! Silence is our enemy in this.

Listen to this brief radio interview of Glen Chase, who is an advocate with California Alliance to Stop the Spray. It’s nice to hear the voice of reason on the airwaves.

Thinking of visiting California in 2008? Think again.

Quick Facts About California Tourism

• The state of California is the nation’s #1 tourist destination
• In 2003, Travel and Tourism expenditures in California totaled $78.2 BILLION dollars
• The tourism industry provides nearly 1 MILLION jobs for Californians
• Tourism in California generates $5 BILLION yearly in direct state and local tax revenue
• Los Angeles, alone, receives 53 MILLION visitors a year
• San Francisco receives 15 MILLION visitors a year
• The Monterey Bay Aquarium receives more than 1.5 MILLION visitors annually
• In Total, California Receives some 315 Million Domestic and International Visitors Annually

Let’s Not Go To California This Year

“Honey, where shall we go this year?”
“How about California? We can walk on the beaches, take the kids to Disneyland, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, go see that great new museum in San Francisco.”
“Only if the airlines will give us gas masks when we step off the plane, dear!”
“What do you mean?”
“Haven’t you heard? The government is spraying poison from airplanes all over the coast of California and the drift from it is probably going to make that whole darned state a toxic nightmare.”
“Gosh, then that’s about the last place I’m taking our family!”

Travel agents, airlines, hotel owners and every local attraction that depends on the 315 million annual tourists that make the tourism industry the 3rd largest employer in California are going to be on the receiving end of conversations like the above that are happening across the country and around the globe as the word gets out that CDFA is planning to aerially spray California with carcinogens and synthetics encapsulated in particulate plastic. The plastic will be inhaled deeply into the lungs of anyone unlucky enough to be here, causing documented side effects of respiratory failure, primary asthma attacks in people who’ve never had asthma in their lives, horrible skin rashes, damage to skin and eyes, menstrual irregularities and vomiting. Have a nice trip? I don’t think so!

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Department of Agriculture intend to begin spraying California in June of 2008, every 30 days, for an undisclosed number of years, chronically exposing the 7 million inhabitants of these 7 coastal counties to known carcinogens, mutagens and tumorigens:

San Francisco County
Marin County
Monterey County
Santa Cruz County
Alameda County
Contra Costa County
San Mateo County

After the aerial spraying of Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties in 2007, more than 600 people were made violently ill, an 11 month old baby nearly died of respiratory failure, hundreds of seabirds washed up dead on the beaches and the watershed was covered with a foul foam. Lawsuits are already happening and many residents are leaving the spray areas. This isn’t a good place to visit.

Because the pesticides, synthetics and carcinogens are in time-released plastic capsules and will be sprayed every month, there will be no safe day to be in California. The air and water will be filled with these toxins every day of the year. You don’t want to breathe this stuff, drink this stuff or touch this stuff. In addition to the immediate harms to the human body, the long-range health effects of the substance are known to cause cancer. If you don’t want cancer, don’t visit California.

Why The Heck Is This Happening?
Our governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a recipient of monetary contributions from the Secretary of the California Dept. of Agriculture, - A.G. Kawamura - and the maker of the chemicals being sprayed on California - Stewart Resnick of Suterra LLC. A basically harmless moth, the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) has been discovered in California. Because this moth was once incorrectly classified as a Class A pest, interstate and international trade restrictions apply to areas where the moth lives. So, rather than correctly reclassifying the LBAM as is indicated by modern scientific research as a negligible pest, the governor and the CDFA are willing to aerially spray 7 million Californians with known carcinogens to protect trade profits, while calling their product a harmless pheromone. Don’t be duped by their spiel….the pheromone is a synthetically manufactured chemical, not a natural substance, and it is but one of the host of devastatingly toxic ingredients in the spray.

Yes, they are willing to fly planes over urban areas that are home to 7 million Californians, permanently harming us and our environment and they are quite willing to do the same to the 315 Million tourists who come to visit California annually.

The more the word gets out about the toxicity of the spray and its immediate and longterm health effects on children, women and men, the more damage we can expect to see done to the California tourism industry as people wisely choose not to visit here.

The scenario smart travelers want to avoid is one of standing in their fancy, expensive suite of a famous San Francisco hotel, watching airplanes dumping toxic chemicals across the skyline. No vacation that winds up with you or a loved one at an inner-city ER is going to be a good vacation.

What Should You Do?

- First of all, don’t visit California if you care about your health and your family’s health.
- Absolutely do not bring your pets here. Sprayed animals in Monterey and Santa Cruz died.
- Phone Gov. Schwarzenegger and tell him why you won’t be visiting California: 1 (916) 445-2841
- Phone the CA Tourist Board 1 (916) 444-4429 or email them at web@visitcalifornia.com to let them know you won’t visit a state that is aerially spraying its visitors.
- If your company or organization hosts a west coast conference, consider booking space in Washington or Oregon instead and explain to your previous conference center’s staff that you don’t want your members being sprayed because you’ve held an event California.

In a situation as grave as this, it isn’t enough to abstain from visiting California. It’s only by telling the tourism industry and the government why you won’t be spending your money here that they will understand just how damaging to the economy their decision to spray the state is. Your voice may protect the millions of defenseless residents and further millions of uninformed tourists from serious harm if we work together to say aerial spray is not okay.

The majority of city and county governments in regions set to be sprayed beginning this summer of 2008 are demanding that the SF Bay Area and Monterey Bay Region not be sprayed, but we’ve been told we have no vote in the matter. Your money, as a valued tourist, is your vote. Please help us protect beautiful California and its people from this disaster. We want to welcome you to California, but don’t want you to get sick.

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If you are running an anti-LBAM spray website or group and would like to use the graphic in this article, you are welcome to do so provided linked credit is given to VeganReader.com. Please, distribute this image.

When questioned about the health effects of the chemical aerial spraying of California for the light brown apple moth, the Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the Public Health Department have said: health effects could not be predicted because the Bay Area’s population includes sensitive groups such as children, the elderly, and people with chronic disease.

This article attempts to offer a rough prediction of chemical exposure based on U.S. Census Bureau population statistics for the SF Bay Area and the Monterey Bay Area. We need to make it clear that we are private citizens, not professional statisticians. This is our attempt to understand the health math of the aerial spraying of California by the California Department of Agriculture. We welcome corrections and suggestions.

In 2007, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties were sprayed with a combination of known carcinogens, mutagens, and other toxins encapsulated in particulate plastic. Here are some stats:

Total Population of These 2 Counties = 659,911
Total Number of Children in These 2 Counties = 170,790
Total Number of Women in These 2 Counties = 321,500
Total Number of Seniors in These 2 Counties = 66,739

Following the spraying, approximately 650 people reported illnesses which are slated as documented effects of the chemicals which were sprayed on them. We emphasize the word reported because experts suggest that reported illnesses only represent a very small portion of the population that was actually sickened. Many citizens, because of lack of health care or other issues, likely failed to seek medical help or to report symptoms.

The numbers say that, of the total population of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties (659,911), .1% of the population registered sickness from the spraying (approximately 650 people).

Applying These Numbers to the Total Population Scheduled to be Sprayed in 2008
Here are the population statistics for the seven counties CDFA intends to spray beginning in the summer of 2008, every 30 days for an undisclosed number of years.

Alameda County:
Total Population: 1,457,426
Women: 737,457
Children: 355,611
Seniors: 154,487

Contra Costa County:
Total Population: 1,024,319
Women: 521,378
Children: 255,055
Seniors: 117,796

Marin County:
Total Population: 248,742
Women: 124,868
Children: 49,250
Seniors: 37,062

Monterey County:
Total Population: 410,206
Women: 196,898
Children: 114,857
Seniors: 41,020

San Francisco County:
Total Population: 744,041
Women: 424,847
Children: 110,118
Seniors: 110,118

San Mateo County:
Total Population: 705,499
Women: 354,865
Children: 163,675
Seniors: 81,132

Santa Cruz County:
Total Population: 249,705
Women: 124,602
Children: 55,933
Seniors: 25,719

It is the intention of the CDFA to spray the above at-risk populations with their toxic chemical compound. Because of the documented drift of aerially-sprayed pesticides, it is logical to expect that the total population of the San Francisco Bay Area will be affected - a population totaling approximately 7 million people. (See more information on pesticide drift.)

Who is at Risk?

Women
The women of the Monterey Bay Area were sprayed with 2-hydroxy-4-n-octyloxybenzothenone. This is a xenochemical known to cause breast cancer. This means that the CDFA exposed 321,500 women to a known breast cancer causing substance. The SF Bay Area has an approximate population of 7 million people. There are approximately 3,500,000 women living in the area set to be sprayed in 2008. This means that, unless CDFA is stopped, 3,500,000 women will be exposed to a substance known to cause breast cancer.

Children
Of the total population of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, 170,790 are children. The substance sprayed in 2007 on the children contained known carcinogens, tumorigens and mutagens - substances known to cause cell mutation and cancer. It is disastrous, healthwise, for growing children to be exposed to substances that cause growth mutations. Of the 7 million people living in the SF Bay Area, 1,100,000 are children. This means that the CDFA intends to expose more than a million children to known cancer-causing substances.

Seniors
Of the total populations of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, 66,739 are seniors over the age of 65. As we age, our bodies’ abilities to fight off illnesses lessens because our immune systems are also aging. CDFA exposed 66,739 seniors to particulate plastic, carcinogens and other toxins in these two counties in 2007, doubtless decreasing health and life expectancy. Of the 7 million people living in the SF Bay Area, 800,000 are seniors. This means that CDFA intends to spray 800,000 elders with substances that cause respiratory failure and cancer.

Chemically Sensitive & AutoImmune Deficient Citizens
Unfortunately, this group of at-risk citizens is, perhaps, the most poorly documented and understood of all of the groups. We were unable to find reliable numbers for how many Monterey Bay Area and SF Bay Area people are currently suffering from conditions such as:

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
Fibromyalgia
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Endometriosis
Lung Disease
Cancer
Asthma

Common sense says that combined populations for these conditions must total in the thousands, possibly millions, and exposure to the chemicals and particulate plastic contained in the aerial spray compound may cause serious injury or fatality to these especially vulnerable citizens.

Tourists and Commuters
In addition to actual residents of the spray zones are the millions of tourists who visit the coastal regions of California annually, as well as all of the commuters who will be working in the sprayed counties five days a week during normal business hours. All of these people will be exposed to the spray as it hangs in the air and pollutes the water and soil for years to come.

What These Numbers Mean To Citizens and Health Care Professionals

Returning to the figure of .1% reported illnesses in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties following the 2007 spraying, we can apply this ratio to the SF Bay Area with its population of 7 million people.

If .1% of the population report immediate health damage from the spraying in 2008, this will be an estimated total of 7000 reports of symptoms of pesticide poisoning including:

• Respiratory difficulty or failure
• Skin rashes
• Eye and skin irritation
• Rapid heartbeat
• Disorientation
• Psychotic and violent behaviors
• Vomiting and Gastrointestinal disorders
• Listlessness and Fatigue
• Sinus ailments and nosebleeds
• Sore throats
• Swollen glands
• Primary asthma attacks
• Recommencement of menstruation in menopausal women

Because the CDFA has not disclosed the complete list of ingredients in the biochemical compound they intend to spray on the 7 million people of the SF Bay Area, predictions for other immediate health damages can not be made at this time. The above symptoms are the documented effects known to be caused by the chemicals that were sprayed in 2007. The ingredients perfectly match the symptoms experienced in the Monterey region following the spray.

Bay Area doctors will know better than we do whether our clinics and hospitals are prepared to treat 7,000 cases of pesticide poisoning in August of 2008. We are unaware of what services are in place to meet a public health epidemic of these proportions.

It is also vital to note that the above data relates to immediate health damage only. The long term effects of repeat, chronic exposure to carcinogens over an undisclosed number of years will logically cause unprecedented rates of cancer and other fatal illnesses in the coming decades.

* Please, again note that the above figures relate to reported illnesses, and do not accurately reflect the number of humans who will actually be sickened by the spray. It is impossible to accurately predict the drop in school and work attendance that will follow the 2008 spraying due to unreported ill health. It is also impossible for us to predict the burden that will be put on the shoulders of the emergency medical practitioners, fire department, police force, and other public service agencies after the airplanes begin spewing toxins over the areas set to be sprayed beginning in June of 2008. It is logical to predict that many of our public servants will also be sick and unable to go to work, creating an unthinkable situation of disaster.

In Summary
Unless they are halted, the California Department of Agriculture, at the invitation of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, intends to cause the following harms to the people of California:

3,500,000 women will be exposed to substances known to cause breast cancer.

1,100,000 growing children will be exposed to endocrine disrupters, particulate plastic, and carcinogens.

800,000 seniors will be exposed to known mutagens and tumorigens.

An undisclosed number of citizens attempting to survive multiple chemical sensitivities, auto immune diseases, and cancers will be exposed to multiple substances known to cause harm to human beings.

This is the health math that we have been able to do regarding CDFA’s plans to subject millions of U.S. citizens to chronic pesticide exposure. Civic government officials and private citizens are citing the actions of Governor Schwarzenegger and the California Department of Food and Agriculture as being in violation of the California Constitution, the U.S. Constitution, and the Nuremberg Code, which was created after World War II to protect humans from ever being experimented on again without their consent. Four bills and one measure calling for the cancellation of the plans to aerially spray the people of California are being presented to the Senate and numerous lawsuits against the State are in place.

Third party scientists and doctors are speaking in strong opposition to this completely unnecessary exposure of the public to known carcinogens. Please join us in placing priority on public health over international trade profit. Please act to protect California’s children, men, women, wildlife, and environment. Fight the spray.

We intend to continue to update this list of California civic governments, officials and councils who have issues resolutions against the California Department of Agriculture’s Plan to aerially spray Californians with a carcinogenic substance contained in particulate plastic. We ask our readers to alert us to any regions missing from our list where such resolutions against the spraying have been passed:

Albany
Aptos
Ben Lomond
Berkeley
Boulder Creek
Branciforte
Brookdale
Corralitos
Corte Madera
Davenport
Emeryville
Fairfax
Felton
Freedom
La Selva Beach
Live Oak
Lompico
Marin
Mill Valley
Monterey
Oakland
Pacific Grove
Pajaro
Rio Del Mar
San Anselmo
San Francisco
San Leandro
Santa Cruz
Sausalito
Seaside
Soquel
Tiburon
Zayante

* Since first posting this, we have discovered the California Coalition of Cities to Stop the Spray (CCCSS). Please visit the page we’ve linked to for further information.

State and Federal Government Money-making Schemes Should Not Be Allowed To Overrule The Resolutions of Local Populations Not Be Exposed To Toxic Chemicals!

This may be the most important two hours you’ll be spending in the year of 2008, watching this two-part YouTube video of the March 3rd meeting that was held at the Corte Madera Town Center in Marin, CA.

Part 1

Part 2

Highlights from this video include:

- Sen. Carol Migden speaking about the moratorium she has requested on the spray
- Skip Berg, founding member of StoptheSprayMarin.org
- Assemblyman Mark Leno of eastern San Francisco
- An integrated pest management expert telling us not to trust the California Department of Agriculture
- An environmental lawyer explaining our rights in this crisis
- John Russo, founder of StoptheSpray.org
- A local doctor discussing pesticide poisoning
- A retired military man warning us about his experiences with Agent Orange
- Remarks from outraged citizens

If you do one thing this week, make it watching this meeting which will bring you up to date on everything that is happening to stop the aerial spraying of 17,000,000 Californians.

Our thanks go out to EON, the Ecological Options Network and the Natural Solutions Foundation, whose website may be visited at www.healthfreedomusa.org, for producing this documentation of the meeting.