{"id":39,"date":"2014-07-15T15:45:27","date_gmt":"2014-07-15T15:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/emmcp\/larmosqctrlpes\/"},"modified":"2025-06-24T10:40:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T14:40:26","slug":"larmosqctrlpes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/emmcp\/larmosqctrlpes\/","title":{"rendered":"Larval Mosquito Control Pesticides"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Bti<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>EPA toxicity levels<\/strong> are grouped into four categories: (IV) relatively non-toxic, (III) slightly toxic, (II) moderately toxic, and (I) highly toxic. Bti is rated as relatively non-toxic (IV). By comparison, caffeine would be labeled moderately toxic (II).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Facts about Bti<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bti is a microbial insecticide<\/li>\n<li>Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis is a rod-shaped bacterium which releases a toxin crystal when it reproduces<\/li>\n<li>This crystal is only toxic to mosquitoes, black fly, and a few related species<\/li>\n<li>Bti is considered relatively non-toxic to humans and other mammals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Toxicity to people: LOW RISK<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>found to be a non-irritant to skin &amp; eyes<\/li>\n<li>not found to be oncogenic (tumor-producing)<\/li>\n<li>not found to cause birth defects<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Toxicity to non-targets:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>other mammals &#8211; essentially no risk<\/li>\n<li>birds &#8211; essentially no risk<\/li>\n<li>fish &#8211; essentially no risk<\/li>\n<li>bees &#8211; essentially no risk<\/li>\n<li>other invertebrates &#8211; low to none for most other invertebrates, including other insects. However, Bti has been found to affect dixids, chironomids, and ceratopogonids.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Environmental Risk is Very Low<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bti:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>is highly specific for mosquito and black fly larva<\/li>\n<li>is applied directly to mosquito-producing habitats<\/li>\n<li>produces no toxic residues &#8211; risk to groundwater is low<\/li>\n<li>is non-volatile (doesn&#8217;t release vapors)<\/li>\n<li>is harmless to beneficial aquatic organisms, including insect predators<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Efficiency as a Pesticide<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bti is applied to larval habitat to kill mosquitoes before they become pests<\/li>\n<li>Bti produces rapid knockdown and mortality in mosquitoes, usually within 24&nbsp; hours after application<\/li>\n<li>Bti is not persistent in the environment, so the chance of resistance developing is low<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Altosid<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>EPA toxicity levels<\/strong> are grouped into four categories: (IV) relatively non-toxic, (III) slightly toxic, (II) moderately toxic, and (I) highly toxic. Altosid is rated as relatively non-toxic (IV). By comparison, caffeine would be labeled moderately toxic (II).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Facts about Altosid<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Altosid is an insect growth regulator<\/li>\n<li>the active ingredient, Methoprene, is an insect juvenile hormone mimic<\/li>\n<li>Insect juvenile hormone affects the development of the insect to its adult stage (metamorphosis)<\/li>\n<li>Altosid is considered relatively non-toxic to humans and other mammals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Toxicity to people: LOW RISK<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>found to be non-irritating to skin &amp; eyes<\/li>\n<li>found to be non-sensitizing to skin<\/li>\n<li>not found to be oncogenic (tumor-producing)<\/li>\n<li>not found to cause birth defects<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Toxicity to non-targets:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>other mammals &#8211; essentially no risk<\/li>\n<li>birds &#8211; essentially no risk<\/li>\n<li>amphibians &#8211; slight to moderate risk<\/li>\n<li>fish &#8211; slight to moderate risk<\/li>\n<li>bees &#8211; essentially no risk<\/li>\n<li>other invertebrates &#8211; potentially high for other aquatic insects and some aquatic invertebrates<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Environmental Risk is low<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Altosid is applied directly to mosquito-producing habitats<\/li>\n<li>Altosid produces no toxic residues &#8211; risk to groundwater is<br \/>\nlow<\/li>\n<li>Altosid is non-volatile (doesn&#8217;t release vapors)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Efficiency as a Pesticide<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Altosid is applied to larval habitat to kill mosquitoes<br \/>\nbefore they become pests<\/li>\n<li>Altosid offers control for up to 30-150 days (depending on the formulation), providing long term control of mosquitoes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Labels and Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.valentbiosciences.com\/publichealth\/products\/vectobac\/#VectoBac-Granules\">-Vectobac GS<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valentbiosciences.com\/publichealth\/products\/vectolex\/#Water-Soluble-Pouch\">-Vectolex WSP<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.centralmosquitocontrol.com\/all-products\/altosid\/altosid-pellets-wsp\">-Altosid Pellets WSP<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valentbiosciences.com\/publichealth\/products\/vectobac\/\">-Vectobac WDG<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.centralmosquitocontrol.com\/all-products\/fourstar\/fourstar-briquet-90\">-Fourstar 90 Day Briquet<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.centralmosquitocontrol.com\/all-products\/altosid\/altosid-xr-briquets\">-Altosid XR<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bti EPA toxicity levels are grouped into four categories: (IV) relatively non-toxic, (III) slightly toxic, (II) moderately toxic, and (I) highly toxic. Bti is rated as relatively non-toxic (IV). By comparison, caffeine would be labeled &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/emmcp\/larmosqctrlpes\/\" aria-label=\"Read full article about Larval Mosquito Control Pesticides\">Read full article<span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/emmcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/emmcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/emmcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/emmcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/emmcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/emmcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1095,"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/emmcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions\/1095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/emmcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}