Malathion: US officials reverse course on pesticide's harm to wildlife
Source: Associated Press
US officials reverse course on pesticide’s harm to wildlife
By MATTHEW BROWN
March 8, 2022
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials reversed their previous finding that a widely used and highly toxic pesticide could jeopardize dozens of plants and animals with extinction, after receiving pledges from chemical manufacturers that they will change product labels for malathion so that it’s used more carefully by gardeners, farmers and other consumers.
Federal rules for malathion are under review in response to longstanding concerns that the pesticide used on mosquitoes, grasshoppers and other insects also kills many rare plants and animals. A draft finding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last April said malathion could threaten 78 imperiled species with extinction and cause lesser harm to many more.
Wildlife officials reversed their position on the 78 species in a Feb. 28 biological opinion following talks among malathion manufacturers, officials from the wildlife service and the Environmental Protection Agency, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
Wildlife service officials now say malathion could cause limited harm to hundreds of species, but is unlikely to jeopardize any of them with extinction as long as labels that dictate its use are changed. Their conclusion depends on farmers, gardeners and other consumers abiding by the instructions on where and when to use the pesticide.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/science-business-animals-wildlife-billings-e3443e0a0ff76211d1e1bb0275f9385b
= new reply since forum marked as read
They used to spray the oak moths in the oakland hills in the 70's/80's where I grew up... big helicopters just blanketing everything. Used to tell people to close windows etc...they did it at night to "minimize exposure"
I wonder how much of that crap I ingested as a kid playing in the woods and creeks... 
