Bill Would Ban Mosquito-Control Pesticide Use

Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman (I-Montauk) has introduced a new bill aimed at restricting the use of the pesticide Methoprene within county estuaries.

Locally, Methoprene is used to control mosquitoes breeding in estuaries, along with several types of ants, flies, lice, moths, beetles and fleas, according to the Cornell Cooperative Extension toxicology network.

The bill, introduced July 30, proposes strict application guidelines that only allow use of the pesticide when two or more bacterial larvicide treatments have proven unsuccessful in limiting the mosquito population, or when one or more diseases, such as West Nile Virus, have been identified in local mosquito populations, according to the proposed bill.

The pesticide is known as an insect growth regulator because it interferes with...| read more ››