Res. No. 2033 Title Resolution calling upon the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Protection to immediately establish a joint task force to implement a pilot program that would test the use of non-toxic control products against mosquitoes, and furthermore that the City of New York establish a moratorium on the use of toxic pesticides against mosquitoes until such tests have been conducted. Body By Council Members Freed and Marshall; also Council Members Harrison, Lopez, O'Donovan and Quinn Whereas, The Health Department of the City of New York (DOH) is currently spraying Anvil 10+10, a toxic pesticide, in the borough of Staten Island in response to the reappearance of the West Nile Virus; and Whereas, Anvil 10+10 and other pesticides used in the City's West Nile Virus Plan have been known to cause and trigger short- and long-term respiratory problems, and have been linked by medical and toxicological studies in peer-reviewed journals to immune disruption, neurological dysfunction, cancer and reproductive disorders; and Whereas, Furthermore, children are especially susceptible to long-term effects from exposure to pesticides, and inner-city children are routinely exposed to heavy applications of pesticides and are therefore at even greater risk of harmful cumulative impacts; and Whereas, Public health experts and entomologists have expressed concern that the spraying of pesticides has not been proven as a safe or effective way to control the West Nile Virus, and should not be part of a control plan unless and until pesticide spraying has been proven to outweigh threats to the public health and environment; and Whereas, Furthermore, DOH has failed to produce sufficient evidence demonstrating the efficacy of pesticide spray campaigns it has implemented in the past two years; and Whereas, Additionally, there is considerable public interest in the use of non-toxic control products and a growing demand for safe alternative methods of mosquito control; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Protection immediately establish a joint task force to implement a pilot program that would test the use of non-toxic control products against mosquitoes, and furthermore that the City of New York establish a moratorium on the use of toxic pesticides against mosquitoes until such tests have been conducted. LP LS#4552 8/16/01