Eco Hvar

KILLING INSECTS, DESTROYING PARADISE

If someone filled a spray can with potentially deadly poisons and went round spraying people at random, everyone, including the police, would react to put a stop to it.

KILLING INSECTS, DESTROYING PARADISE

Yet in Croatia, every summer highly poisonous insecticides are sprayed on a massive scale in 'fogging' actions around the country, from road vehicles and aeroplanes, with scant regard to people's safety. This is done as a 'health measure' aimed at preventing diseases spread by certain mosquitoes, in accordance with the Health Ministry's Law on Protecting the Population from Infectious Diseases (Zakon o zaštiti pučantsva od zaraznih bolesti).

How dangerous are the poisons used? Answer: very. Most of the insecticides carry high risks for human health. Some can harm animals. All are harmful to aquatic life. Of course, all insecticides are dangerous for pollinators, including bees and other invaluable insects.

Check out the possible adverse effects of pesticides used for the Insect Suppression Programme:

AMPLAT, active ingredients: Cypermethrin and Tetramethrin, with Piperonyl Butoxide.

Amplat Safety Data Sheet 07/01/2020, warnings: in humans, suspected carcinogen; can cause organ damage; harmful if inhaled; harmful if swallowed; in the environment: highly poisonous to marine life, with long-lasting effects.

Cypermethrin possible adverse effects: in humans, classified as a possible carcinogen; can be fatal; can cause organ damage, skin numbness or burning, respiratory irritation, loss of bladder control, vomiting, loss of co-ordination, coma, seizures; probable reproduction/developmental toxin; in animals: very toxic to cats; in the environment: highly damaging to bees, earthworms, aquatic insects and fish; very toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects; toxic to a lesser degree to birds. Note: Cypermethrin was approved for use in the EU (01/02/2022 - 31/01/2029) on condition that it is not used when plants of any kind are in flower because of its high toxicity for bees (legislation 24/11/2021).

Tetramethrin possible adverse effects: in humans, potential human carcinogen; can cause dizziness, breathing difficulties, coughing, eye irritation, gastrointestinal upset, blisters and skin rashes; in the environment, extremely toxic to bees and aquatic organisms, including fish and aquatic invertebrates.

Piperonyl Butoxide possible adverse effects: in humans, may cause birth defects, including holoprosencephaly (HPE); may delay mental development in infants; animal studies show possible damage, including tumours, in mice and rats; in the environment, very toxic to aquatic life, with long-lasting effects.

- Amplat used in the Općina Crnac, June 2023.

CIPEX 10E - active ingredient: Cypermethrin (see above)

- Cipex 10E used on Hvar around Jelsa, Stari Grad and Hvar Town (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021) Note: Cipex 10E no longer approved by the Ministry of Health in the 2022 and 2024 listings.

CYMINA ULTRA - active ingredients: Cypermethrin and Tetramethrin (see above)

Cymina Ultra Safety Data Sheet 2020: in humans, can be fatal if inhaled and swallowed; suspected carcinogen; can cause organ damage; causes serious eye damage; can cause drowsiness or dizziness; in the environment, very toxic to aquatic life, with long-lasting effects.

- Cymina Ultra used on Brač around Supetar 26/08/2024; in the Općina Slavonski Šamac for hot and cold fogging actions, July 2024

CYPERBASE - active ingredients: Cypermethrin and Tetramethrin, with Piperonyl Butoxide (see above)

- Cyperbase used around the Općina Lipovljani, June 2024; Općina Sibinj, July 2024, Općina Slavonski Šamac for hot and cold fogging actions, July 2024

CYTROL 10/4 ULV - active ingredient: Cypermethrin with Piperonyl Butoxide (see above)

Cytrol 10/4 ULV Safety Data Sheet 09/10/2019: in humans, can be fatal if inhaled and swallowed; can cause drowsiness or dizziness; in the environment, very toxic to aquatic life, with long-lasting effects.

- Cytrol 10/4 ULV used in Grad Valpova, June 2024, Ivanić Grad June, 2024, Općina Crnac, June 2023.

NEOPITROID ALFA - active ingredient: Alpha-Cypermethrin (Alphamethrin)

Alpha-Cypermethrin possible adverse effects: in humans, possible carcinogen; can cause organ damage, respiratory irritation, irreversible eye damage; in the environment, highly toxic to fish, most aquatic organisms and honeybees; extremely toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects; toxic to earthworms; serious water pollutant.

- Neopitroid Alfa used on Hvar, used around Jelsa, June 2022, 2021. Note: Neopitroid Alfa not approved on the Ministry of Health listings, 2022, 2024.

NEOPITROID PREMIUM - active ingredients d-Trans Allethrin (Esbiothrin) and Permethrin with Piperonyl Butoxide (see above).

Neopitroid Premium Safety Data Sheet 2017: in humans, can be fatal if inhaled and swallowed; harmful if inhaled or swallowed; skin irritant; skin allergen; causes severe eye problems; in the environment, extremely toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects.

d-Trans Allethrin (Esbiothrin) possible adverse effects: in humans, harmful if swallowed or inhaled; in the environment, very toxic to aquatic life, with long-lasting effects; toxic to honey-bees and earthworms; moderately toxic to birds.
Permethrin possible adverse effects: in humans, classified as a potential carcinogen; linked to Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; can cause neurological damage, also problems in the immune and endocrine systems; in animals, poisonous to cats, also other animals; in the environment, highly toxic to bees, sea organisms, fish.

- Neopitroid Premium used around Jelsa, June 2023; by air over the green belt around Lovas, Opatovac, Mikluševci, Tompojevci, Bokšić, Čakovci, June 2021; Velika Gorica, Velika Mlaka and Gradići, June 2021; by air over Općina Bilja, the periphery of Kopački rit and Osijek June 2019; on Hvar, Općina Sućuraj 2018; by air over Općina Gunja, Vrbanja, Drenovci, June 2014.

Note: 2024, d-Trans Allethrin not approved at EU level, Neopitroid Premium not approved on the Ministry of Health listing.

NEOPITROID PREMIUM PLUS - active ingredients Permethrin (see above) and Prallethrin with Piperonyl Butoxide (see above)

Neopitroid Premium Plus Safety Data Sheet 07/03/2022: in humans, can be fatal if swallowed, inhaled; harmful if swallowed; poisonous if inhaled; can cause allergic reactions in skin; causes severe eye injury or irritation; in the environment, very toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects.

Prallethrin possible adverse effects: in humans, highly damaging to human health, can be fatal; damaging to the environment.

- Neopitroid Premium Plus used on Hvar around Jelsa, August 2023; Sveta Nedjelja, June 2024; by air over Općina Šodolovci, June 2023; Općina Crnac June 2023.

PERMEX 22E - active ingredients Pemethrin and Tetramethrin ((see above)

Permex 22E Safety Data Sheet 2017: in humans, harmful by inhalation and if swallowed; irritating to respiratory system and skin; risk of serious damage to eyes; may cause sensitisation by skin contact; vapours may cause drowsiness and dizziness; in the environment, very toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment.

- Permex 22E used on Hvar around Jelsa, Stari Grad and Hvar Town, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Our rights are being denied

The Insect Suppression Programme in its current form contravenes several of our human rights:

1. The right to know. "EU citizens should have access to information about chemicals to which they may be exposed, in order to allow them to make informed decisions about their use of chemicals." (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 Introduction. clause 117)

2. The Precautionary Principle. "The precautionary principle is an approach to risk management, where, if it is possible that a given policy or action might cause harm to the public or the environment and if there is still no scientific agreement on the issue, the policy or action in question should not be carried out."

3. The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, according to the Resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council, 2021.

Reactions to an unacceptably risky 'health programme'?

Spraying dangerous poisons around the country and over the population is a strange way to promote public health, is it not? In the main, people, especially visitors, are unaware of the summertime spraying with its health risks and collateral damage. Official warnings are totally inadequate, the possible adverse effects of the poisons are not publicized. Some people are under the illusion that the fogging actions are a necessary measure for controlling mosquitoes alone and carry no risks for humans and the environment. The Insect Suppression Programme is inappropriate, ineffective and harmful. Increasingly, people are becoming aware of this, especially those who can see the reduction of biodiversity in their environment, beekeepers who have lost their bees, and asthmatics who have been dowsed directly with poison. But what can one do to stop it?

Who is responsible?

Ultimate responsibility for the Programme lies with the Ministry of Health. Responsibility for its implementation is delegated to the Croatian Public Health Institute, and passed on in turn to the Regional Public Health Institutes, local authorities and finally to registered commercial companies. So far, over many years, the responsible authorities have refused to respond to warnings that the Insect Suppression Programme in its present form needs to be stopped.

Conclusion: There is no doubt that the current practices of insect suppression with poisons should be halted as a matter of urgency! We call on all the responsible parties to review the Programme and to create acceptable measures for protecting public health.

Vivian Grisogono MA(Oxon)

President, Eco Hvar, September 2024

For more detailed information, see our website: www.eco-hvar.com:

Especially the following articles:

Poisoning Paradise - A Wake-Up Call

About the Insect Suppression Programme

Insecticide, raticide, pesticide: unwinnable wars

Pesticides and their adverse effects

 

back to top
You are here: Home poisons be aware KILLING INSECTS, DESTROYING PARADISE

Eco Environment News feeds

  • ‘The danger and value of water are in my blood’: how rain fences are making Dutch homes more climate resilient

    Housing corporations are adopting rainwater storage in garden fences, reducing pressure during downpours and preserving water for times of drought

    Good fences make good neighbours – but rain fences could make even better ones.

    That is the hope of housing corporations in the Netherlands, which are adopting rainwater storage in their garden fences.

    Continue reading...

  • Argentina approves Milei’s glacier mining bill amid environmental protests

    Legislative change backed by libertarian president makes it easier to extract metals in frozen parts of the Andes

    Argentina’s congress has approved a bill promoted by the libertarian president, Javier Milei, that authorises mining in ecologically sensitive areas of glaciers and permafrost, outraging environmentalists.

    The amendment to the “glacier law”, which was already approved by the senate in February, would make it easier to mine for metals such as copper, lithium and silver in frozen parts of the Andes mountains.

    Continue reading...

  • US had hottest March on record as nation faced ‘unprecedented’ heat

    The continental US registered its most abnormally hot month in 132 years of records, according to Noaa data

    March’s persistent unseasonable heat was so intense that the continental United States registered its most abnormally hot month in 132 years of records, according to federal weather data. And the next year or so looks to turn the dial up on global warmth even more, as some forecasts predict a brewing El Niño will reach super strength.

    Not only was it the hottest March on record for the US but the amount it was above normal beat any other month in history for the lower 48 states. March’s average temperature of 50.85F(10.47C) was 9.35F (5.19C) above the 20th-century normal for March.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘A dream come true’: Brazil’s blue-and-yellow macaws return to Rio after 200 years

    An ambitious ‘refaunation’ project is bringing the much-loved birds and other lost species back to the city’s national park

    Images of the iconic blue-and-yellow macaw can be spotted all over Rio de Janeiro. Yet the real thing has been seen so rarely in the Brazilian city that some wondered if it ever really existed there at all.

    The French explorer Jean de Léry first described an abundance of the giant, colourful parrots around Indigenous tribes in the 16th century, and the Austrian naturalist Johann Natterer sighted theAra araraunain the city in 1818.

    Continue reading...

  • Bitten by snakes 200 times – on purpose: US man’s quest to help deliver new antivenom

    Tim Friede put his ‘ass on the line’ to help stop snakebite deaths – whose numbers appear to be rising amid the climate crisis

    As we overheat and degrade our planet, more people are likely to come into contact, sometimes fatally, with venomous snakes. One man hopes to provide an unusual solution to this, after subjecting himself to 200 intentional snakebites to his body.

    For nearly 20 years, Tim Friede, 58, allowed some of the most lethal snakes in the world to bite him so he could build up an immunity that could one day be developed into a universal antivenom.

    Continue reading...

  • UK opening new oil and gas fields would imperil global climate goals, experts say

    Senior climate figures warn North Sea drilling would encourage fossil fuel exploitation by developing countries

    Opening new oil and gas fields in the North Sea would “send a shock wave around the world”, imperilling international climate targets, undermining the UK’s climate leadership and encouraging developing countries to exploit their own fossil fuel reserves, experts have warned.

    The UK government is under stiff pressure from the oil industry, the Conservatives, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, some trade unions and parts of the Treasury to give the green light to new oil and gas fields, despite clear evidence that doing so would not cut prices and would have almost no effect on imports.

    Continue reading...

  • Campaigners demand action to break UK’s ‘addiction’ to controversial herbicide

    Use of glyphosate has risen 10-fold in 30 years, raising fears for public health

    It was Scottish farmers in the 1980s who pioneered the practice of spraying glyphosate on their wheat just before harvest. Struggling in the damp glens to get their crop to dry evenly, they came up with the idea of accelerating the process by killing it a week or two before harvesting.

    Glyphosate, then a revolutionary herbicide that killed everything plant-based but spared animal life, seemed perfect for the job. Soon the practice spread to wetter, colder agricultural regions around the world.

    Continue reading...

  • Behind this door is the huge fatberg that can’t stop depositing poo balls on Sydney’s beaches

    Guardian Australia tours problematic Malabar wastewater plant where some accumulated fats, oils and grease can’t be accessed – let alone cleared

    “This,” says Fiona Copeman, the hub manager of the Malabar wastewater treatment plant, “is what you would call our four-bus area.”

    Copeman is gesturing to a model of the plant on a table inside the facility itself. She’s referring to a 300 cubic metre underground chamber that houses, as Guardian Australia revealed in January, a “fatberg the size of four buses that likely birthed poo balls that closed Sydney beaches”.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘They poo all over the yard’: little corellas are terrorising Kangaroo Island – and nothing can stop them

    The birds – not native to the South Australian island – have covered a school in faeces, torn up infrastructure and damaged crops

    Thousands of little corellas that have been terrorising the inhabitants of Kangaroo Island have been culled but it won’t be enough to fix the problem, authorities say.

    The birds, which are not native to the island, have covered a local school in faeces, torn up infrastructure, damaged crops and caused mental distress to residents with their screeching.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Should it all just be renationalised?’ – your water crisis questions answered

    Sandra Laville has been reporting on England’s sewage crisis for years. She answered your questions on the water privatisation scandal.

    Guardian environment correspondent Sandra Laville’s reporting on the sewage crisis in English water has helped to expose a scandal of privatisation that has created a swell of fury across the political divide.

    Sandra has now finished answering your questions. Read the Q&A below.

    The government has put the cost of renationalising water at £100bn. But this is a disputed figure. Academics working with the People’s Commission on the Water Sector say this figure is ‘serious scaremongering created on biased evidence’ which was paid for by water companies. It is based on the Regulatory Capital Value of companies as determined by Ofwat, not the” true and fair value in law”, which reflects losses from market failures, like the cost of pollution or the monopoly profits taken by shareholders and banks.

    The route to renationalisation could come via the system set up legally when the companies were privatised. Under the law companies can be put into special administration if they are unable to pay debts, if they breach licence obligations, such as on sewage pollution, or failing to supply water, and if it is considered in the public interest to do so. Special administration is a form of temporary renationalisation.

    This is the million dollar question! While tackling separation across the whole network at once is considered too disruptive and costly, particularly in urban environments, the chartered institute of water and environmental management says moving towards separated systems is their key focus to address urban pollution and storm water sewage releases. New developments, for example, are now mandated to have separate pipes for foul wastewater and surface water run off.

    They also want to see the increased use of sustainable drainage systems like water butts, and storage basins for existing properties, to reduce the amount of runoff into the system. Keeping gardens rather than paving them over, and creating so called sponge cities is also key to tackling pollution.

    The UK was described as the dirty man of Europe back in the 70s and 80s, due to levels of pollution. For example in coastal towns there were no water treatment plants to treat sewage, raw sewage was just pumped and dumped into the sea. It was only when the EU directives came in that the clean up began. Chief amongst these was the Urban Wastewater directive, the Water Framework directive, and the Bathing Water directive.

    Since leaving the EU there have been fears that these pieces of legislation could be watered down. James Bevan, as CEO of the Environment Agency, talked about changing the Water Framework Directive, essentially to make it easier for rivers to pass tests for chemical and biological health. Currently no river is rated as in good overall health under the WFD where rivers have to pass both chemical and biological health tests.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

Copyright © 2026 Eco Hvar. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Orion Informatika.