Help Study Effects of Anvil Aerial Spraying

If you live in the spray zone, you can help us report on the environmental side effects of Anvil pesticide. Peter Severance has volunteered to count the insects collected by volunteers. Peter says it is important to send in your results - even if you do not collect any dead insects after the spraying.

Citizens can help assess the environmental impact of the aerial spraying program, and it only takes a few minutes. Insects being killed by the spray -- both mosquitoes and so-called "non-target", benficial insects such as lacewings, caddisflies, dobsonflies, dragonflies, etc. can be collected onto clean bedsheets spread on the ground, sorted, counted and evaluated to estimate what the spraying actually achieved.

A word of caution: you will be in close contact with the pesticide, probably before it has had a chance to fully degrade. You will also be exposed to breakdown products of the pesticide, of which extremely little is known. Wear gloves if possible, try not to stir up much dust or dirt as you proceed, touch as little as possible while you are doing this (doorknobs, children, pets), and WASH or throw out everything once your are done.

You need a light-colored bedsheet -- two would be best -- tweezers (if you have them), a postage stamp and 3 envelopes for protecting, separating and mailing in your sample. You will mail your collected samples in a standard mailing envelope, which should be satisfactory. If you have a small box for mailing, that would be preferred, but it is not necessary.

Please read through all steps before starting.

Steps:

1. The night of the spraying, simply put the bedsheet on the ground outside your house. If you have two bedsheets, put one out in the open, and the second under trees. If you only have one, put the sheet in the open. [You may confirm which night your neighborhood will be sprayed by calling the Fire Department or Town Hall.]

2. Prepare your mailing envelope. Mark it "Hand cancel only", put a stamp on it and address it to: Westford Environmental News, 3 Snow Drive, Westford, Massachusetts 01886. Please remember to prepare the mailing envelope BEFORE you put any collection samples in it.

3. Prepare your "collecting" envelopes. For EACH bed sheet you put out, label an envelope with the following information: your address, the size of the bedsheet (twin, double, etc.),  and whether the sheet is in the open or under trees. 

4. Email campaign@savethetaunton.org, and provide the following information: your address (where the bedsheet is), the date/time you put the bedsheet out, how many sheets you put out, the size of the bedsheet(s) you put out and if they were in the open or under the trees.

5. The next morning, go out and check your sheet(s). Put on your gloves if you have them, and bring the "collecting" envelopes you have made for each sheet you put out.

6. Starting in one corner of the sheet, inspect it for any dead insects that have fallen on it. Pick them up and put them in the envelope. Roll or fold your sheet up in front of you as you inspect each section of the sheet.

7. When you have cleaned the sheet of all dead insects, seal the envelope (DO NOT LICK IT -- it probably has traces of Anvil on it), shake the collected insects into one end of the envelope and loosely fold it such that it will fit into your mailing envelope.

8. If you have put out a second bedsheet, repeat steps 6 and 7. 

8a. Carefully unroll the bedsheet(s) again, come back later in the day and collect any additional sample per these instructions, noting the time of collection. These same steps can be repeated into the next day, at 4 hour intervals, if so desired. You may find more or different insects falling as the day progresses, based on results from the August 8th spraying.

9. Carefully slip your folded collecting envelope into the mailing envelope, trying to touch the mailing envelope as little as possible. When you are done, take off your gloves and WASH YOUR HANDS. You might also want to change and wash your clothes.

10. Remember to prepare your mailing envelope BEFORE you put your collection envelope(s) in. Carefully seal your mailing envelope. Drop your mailing envelope in a mailbox. You may wash or throw out the sheet.

Thank you!