Wetlands of Great Salt Lake and the problem with the mosquito solution
As temperatures warm earlier each year due to climate change, mosquito season in Utah now stretches from April to October. The Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District (SLCMAD) is scrambling to keep up, monitoring some 40,000 acres of wetlands south and east of the Great Salt Lake, one of the most prolific mosquito habitats in the Western U.S.
New development is complicating their efforts. Warehouses and industrial infrastructure, driven in part by the Utah Inland Port Authority, are encroaching on wetland mosquito zones.
This article highlights why UPHE has consistently warned against developing near Great Salt Lake. Wetlands serve as mosquito breeding grounds, and increased human proximity amplifies public health risks, including exposure to toxic pesticide sprays.
“The advocacy group Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment has long criticized the district for using those sprays, which contain toxins that can damage human nerve systems, even in small amounts. On its website, the group implores residents to submit a no-spray request to the district for their property.”
While SLCMAD says they prioritize safer, targeted biological methods, they still rely on aerial and backpack spraying of chemical pesticides. These sprays contain neurotoxins and other hazardous substances that can harm humans, especially children, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems, even in small amounts.
Worse, many of these pesticides are contaminated with PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” which build up in the human body and are linked to cancer, reproductive harm, and immune dysfunction. Yet SLCMAD doesn’t test its pesticides for PFAS or any health-related safety metrics, instead depending on outdated federal EPA approvals. UPHE made it easy to send your elected officials or local departments a letter urging for more stringent testing of PFAS here.
UPHE continues to urge residents to file no-spray requests for their property and calls for broader transparency and public accountability when it comes to managing both mosquitos and the environmental hazards created by rapid, poorly regulated development.