Get the Fogging Out Of Here!
An unusual past time that I never even new existed until I came to live in Barbados known as fogging is something that can only be bad for your health. For those that have never experienced the unusual site of a lorry slowly driving down the road with a thick cloud of black smoke with a real bad stench pouring out of it, you would wonder what the hell was going on.
I remember the first time I experienced the foggers coming down my road a few months ago, I thought it was the end of the world, Yesterday I Thought It Was the End of World, Thankfully I Was Mistaken! For those of you that have never heard of fogging, you may be wondering what the purpose of it is, well put simply the chemicals in the smoke kill’s the mosquitoes, I Squashed the Little F**ker Last Night.
A car came along our road the day before the event, letting everyone know that the next day the fogging lorry would be coming down our road at a particular time and for every one to have their doors and windows open to let the smoke into your house. Now I don’t know about you, but why would I want to breath in smoke that is laced with chemicals that are obviously some sort of pesticide, how can that be good for your health.
As my neighbour said when I asked him if he thought it was a good idea to leave all doors and windows open to let the smoke in, he said, “You would have to be f***king nuts, make sure all your doors and windows are shut, that stuff could kill you”.
The worst thing is that he isn’t joking, because upon doing a wee bit of research I have discovered that a chemical called Malathion is used in fogging mosquitoes in Barbados and that it is a pesticide that has been banned in some countries because of the risks that is poses to it citizens, surely the Barbados Government wouldn’t put the health of the people living on the island at risk?
The next time I see thick black clouds of smoke and the roar of the fogging lorry in my neighbourhood, I’m going to quickly shut tight all of my doors and windows and drive to the beach for some healthy fresh air.
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8 Responses to “Get the Fogging Out Of Here!”
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Bridgetown, Barbados
Bridgetown, BARBADOS
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no one i guess would put the health of the people into danger..that is why they would not miss to informed everyone that there is upcoming fogging. They do this for the protection to the health of the people. We had fogging once every month i think i just forgot the times they do it. But i had nothing against rather cooperate with it.
Fogging is possibly the one thing I dont miss about barbados. Its absolutely ghastly well ghastly might be too nice a word for it but I remember the disgusting smell and just feeling sick from the stench. And yes I’ll take mosquito bites any day of the week to that stuff so keep the house shut tight
I had a sore throat for 3 days after breathing in some of the smoke the other day, the mosquito bites are better for you than that smoke.
I agree totally with you. I lived in Barbados for 7 years and was amazed at the laisse faire attitude that Bajans have about chemicals and pollution. Yes Barbados is a tropical country and with that comes a very healthy insect population but surely there must be less harmful ways of dealing with it. It’s not only the fogging but the slap dash and careless way that homes are treated by pest control companies which, in Barbados, is done on a regular basis. A guy shows up with a big industrial cannister of roach killer and if you ask what the chemical is, he can’t tell you. He is wearing a mask but when you ask him if you and the family should vacate and come back a few hours later, he will tell you no, it’s not necessary. Then there is the issue of leaded gas and all the cars, buses and trucks that spew black clouds all along the roads in Barbados. It’s time that the government started behaving like responsible world citizens and put a stop to this pollution.
The small amount of malathion used in the fogging machines will cause no health problems. Mosquitoes, unlike human, do not have the enzymes to break down malathion, hence it is toxic to them. Human break to malathion and hence small doses are not toxic.
http://pestalert.ifas.ufl.edu/Medfly/fdacs-0217.htm
http://www.myhamilton.ca/myhamilton/CityandGovernment/HealthandSocialServices/PublicHealth/WestNileVirus/QA-Adulticiding.htm
That’s good to know that it is only a small amount of Malathion that is used, but I feel also there must be better solutions to dealing with the mosquitoes population rather than using chemicals!
I really hate driving behind some of those buses that have clouds of disgusting black smoke pouring out of them. It was the same back home in Scotland; you would have the buses doing the same and the lorries. Governments have an obligation to protect the environment.
I suggest that you don’t 1eave the windows and doors open as the mosquitoes just f1y straight into the house to get away from the fogging they get b1own in,in fact, especia11y if you are upwind of the truck or on coast roads and after the truck is gone you have mi11ions of mosquitoes in your house!
Do you konw how many millions of people have died from mosquitoes? I suppose you would think differently about this “pollution” as you call it if your child died from malaria or some other disease from these infected vectors. Yes, I said millions if not more have died because of this environmental movement that has yet saved one life because what, that planet is now cooler? I don’t think so. So I will take precautions and educate myself about the potential danger versus the benefits from using pesticides responsibly.