Chemists say disputed pesticide generally safe

Two days after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the state to release the contents of a pesticide that will be sprayed over Santa Cruz County to stop the light brown apple moth, a handful of chemists contacted by the Sentinel say the pesticide, upon initial review, looks to be safe.

But they unanimously based their opinions, they said, on the assumption that the concentrations of the compounds are low when sprayed in the air, and that the pesticide's exposure to people won't be for a long period of time.

Neither the state Department of Food and Agriculture, which is conducting the aerial spraying, nor the Oregon-based manufacturer has released the concentration of the ingredients, only their names.

"Every human activity has some risk, but this in my view is reasonable in terms of risk versus benefits," said Greg Moller, an associate professor of environmental chemistry and toxicology at the University of Idaho. "We have to be careful of accusing every chemical that's being used in an industrial society as a bad chemical."

Four inert chemicals in the pesticide, CheckMate LBAM-F, however, have so far risen to the attention of local residents. Those ingredients are butylated hydroxytoluene, polyvinyl alcohol, tricaprylyl methyl ammonium chloride and sodium phosphate.

The composition of CheckMate LBAM-F is slightly different than the composition of the pesticide sprayed over the Monterey Peninsula last month, CheckMate OLR-F.

Said Suzanne Dowling, a concerned Soquel resident, just hours before Monday's hearing: "There are health hazards associated with each and every one of the four inert ingredients of the product to be dumped on us."

Dave Dilworth, executive director of HOPE, or Helping Our Peninsula's Environment, said he was going to ask Schwarzenegger to order the state to release the concentrations found in CheckMate LBAM-F, manufactured by Suterra LLC.

"Whether he does so or not is another question, but it would be nice. We've gotten this far, let's go a little farther," said Dilworth, who's in the midst of suing the state in Monterey County Superior Court over a failure to conduct an environmental impact report on the spraying. "Figuring out the concentrations seems to be the key to figuring out whether this stuff is harmful."

Concerns about safety prompted a Monterey County Superior Court judge to temporarily halt spraying there earlier this month. When Dilworth's group was unable to connect the spraying to reports of illness among Monterey residents, the injunction was lifted. Planes are scheduled to take to the air in Monterey County again on Wednesday, followed by spraying in Santa Cruz County early next month.

Lingering concerns about the pesticide, however, prompted Schwarzenegger to order the state to release the ingredients of CheckMate LBAM- F on Saturday. The company had sought to keep the contents secret.

The pesticide works as a pheromone and seeks to disrupt the moth's mating cycle. CheckMate LBAM-F differs from CheckMate OLR-F in that it is specific for the light brown apple moth. Chemists contacted by the Sentinel about CheckMate OLR-F earlier this month reported no major safety concerns with that pesticide either.

Harry Elston, a chemist with Midwest Chemistry Safety in Springfield, Ill., explained what each one of the chemicals in CheckMate LBAM-F does.

He said that BHT is a food additive that's been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is to prevent spoiling; that polyvinyl alcohol is an agent used to make the product "flow better" when applied; that tricapryl methyl ammonium chloride is a compound that helps dissolve the active and inert ingredients in the water base; and that the two phosphates, sodium phosphate and ammonium phosphate, are probably there to control the acidity of the solution.

"These compounds have a long history of safe use in this and many other applications," he said. "They are certainly not anything that I would get worked up over."

Neal Langerman, a consultant for the San Diego-based Advanced Chemical Safety, which helps companies properly handle hazardous materials, said anybody can find something wrong with a chemical if they look hard enough.

"By way of reference, the most powerful chemical to stop water-borne diseases and thereby improve public health is chlorine. If you look up its toxicology, it is awful. So, again, it's all about the dose."

The state says the light brown apple moth, which numbers close to 7,500 in Santa Cruz County, is capable of causing millions of dollars of damage to California's agriculture industry. To date, however, no crop damage has been reported locally, according to Ken Corbishley, the county agricultural commissioner.