Mosquito Control Task Force Report

In 2022, the Mosquito Control for the Twenty-First Century Task Force issued a comprehensive report on mosquito control. The Task Force was created by the state legislature to study current mosquito-borne disease control management in Massachusetts, and provide comprehensive recommendations on how to improve the system. The Task Force was comprised of representatives of state agencies, conservation organizations, academic institutions, and those in the field doing mosquito control work.

The result: the Task Force overwhelmingly agreed that Massachusetts’ mosquito management system needs an overhaul, recommending that the legislation that created our current system be repealed and replaced with a more modern and holistic approach.

Some of their recommendations include reconstituting the Reclamation Board with a new Mosquito Management Board with expanded expertise in public health and the environment, and creating a new statewide Mosquito Management Plan based on science and integrated pest management with public input. The Task Force also recommends enhancing coordination with wetlands restoration and stormwater systems design, and better monitoring the impacts of pesticide use.

The Task Force recommends improving the process for landowners to opt-out of area-wide pesticide spraying, including the property marking requirements, and formalizing the exclusion of certified organic farms from aerial spraying. Action is needed by the legislature to implement reforms.

These are some key good recommendations supported by the majority of the task force which are also supported by the MASSQuito Coalition:

  • Reconstitute the Reclamation Board into a new Mosquito Management Board with additional expertise including MassWildlife and the Dept. of Public Health
  • Create a new statewide Mosquito Management Plan based on science/IPM/evidence-based organic pest management approach (See Beyond Pesticides position on mosquito control below) with public input.)
  • Provide municipal choice in services provided
  • Enhance coordination with wetlands restoration and stormwater systems designs
  • Document and make available information on pesticide application locations
  • Monitor effects and impacts, better protect from pesticide run-off
  • Improve the landowner opt-out and exclusion marking systems (this would make it easier for large conservation landowners and conservation commissions to annually renew exclusions and not have to put signs up every 50 feet)
  • Formalize exclusion of certified organic farms from aerial spraying

Only a minority of the Task Force voted in favor of these important reforms:

  • Exclusion from aerial spraying for farms growing food organically but not certified
  • Reduce nuisance spraying
  • Eliminate aerial spraying
  • Require science-based criteria for determining Public Health Hazard (basis for aerial spraying)
  • Ability of municipalities to avoid having the state impose spraying on them
  • Comprehensive evaluation of efficacy and impacts

With pending reform legislation, Massachusetts has an opportunity to implement a more transparent, ecologically-based mosquito control system in Massachusetts that does not endanger our residents, wetlands, farmland, and pollinators with toxic chemicals.

Massachusetts has been using pesticides for years to kill mosquitos through truck and aerial spraying, despite not having evidence that they are effective in curbing the risk of mosquito-borne disease. 80.5% of public comments received by the Task Force (347 comments) call for a reduction or elimination of pesticide uses in the state’s mosquito control. 

Alternatives exist, and should be applied to Massachusetts to protect public health and increase transparency. Modern mosquito control should promote ecologically-based management including avoidance of creating mosquito habitat in state and local development standards and support for wetlands and river restoration projects that eliminate stagnant water and remove artificial barriers to fish passage. The state should create quantifiable thresholds for when pesticides are used, if at all, and allow municipalities to opt-in to those services, rather than shoulder the burden of opting-out.

Proposed Legislation for Ecological Mosquito Disease Management

Proposed legislation (S.547/H.985) in the 2025-26 state legislative session, filed by Senator Jo Comerford and Representative Kathleen LaNatra, replaces the Commonwealth’s outdated and expensive mosquito management system with one that is more effective, affordable, transparent, ecologically responsible, and scientifically based.

The more emails (and calls!) that legislators receive from their constituents, the more likely they are to cosponsor a piece of legislation and the more likely that bill will advance through the legislative process.

Please use this form to contact your state legislators in support of:
“An Act establishing an ecologically-based mosquito management program in the Commonwealth to protect public health”

See/share our coalition fact sheet on the bill here.

How to Opt Out of Spraying

Mosquito season comes back with the warmth, and even though spraying of pesticides to control adult mosquitoes is the least effective and most environmentally damaging method to control mosquito diseases, we’re about to be blanketed with toxic pesticides. If you want to eliminate your families and your local ecosystem’s exposure to these toxins, there is an option to “opt-out” from spraying carried out by the Commonwealth. However, there are also some important caveats.

Anyone in Massachusetts can request to be excluded from wide area applications of pesticides through the Dept. of Agriculture (renters must have the permission of their landlord). When someone fills out the form found on the below page, it goes directly to the mosquito control project that services that town and that property will be excluded.

How to request exclusion from wide area pesticide applications >>

IMPORTANT NOTE: Exclusion requests must be filed EACH CALENDAR YEAR.

Note also that excluded properties should be marked with signage saying “No Spray” as outlined on the above-linked page.

HOWEVER (BIG ONE)… when a public health hazard is declared by the Department of Public Health (which is very likely to happen) and emergency spraying needs to take place,  those exclusions are not honored during the time that is set forth in the DPH declaration, unless the property is a certified organic farm.

If someone has filled out this form, they should be notified if/when spraying occurs (so at least people can take some precautions)

About organic farms:

The Department reaches out to the certified organic farms at the beginning of the season to gather information relative to their location so that if an emergency application does take place they have their information to include in their mapping. *If someone is in the process of being certified organic with Bay State Organic or another certifier, they are also eligible to be excluded from wide area pesticide applications, even under emergency declaration.* Those who are in the process of becoming certified or were recently certified should fill out the exclusion form and contact MDAR directly to confirm that they will be excluded as an organic operation.

Share your concerns: If/when you “opt-out” for your property, be sure to also notify your local town/city officials (ie. Conservation Commission, Board of Selectman, Town/City Council, Board of Health, Mayor, etc) and let them know why. The more residents they hear from about opting out, the more likely they will support an alternative municipal mosquito disease management strategy.

The blanket spraying of synthetic pesticides is a threat to the integrity of insect biodiversity and ecosystem health that our farms and gardens rely upon. It also raises serious health concerns. These chemicals are known to elevate risk factors to our immune and respiratory systems. According to the national Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, spraying of pesticides to control adult mosquitoes is the least effective, and most environmentally damaging method to control mosquito diseases.

Did you know?

  • Products containing synthetic pyrethroids are not natural, they are synthetic chemical formulations that also contain other or “inert” ingredients. Neither Massachusetts agencies nor EPA test the health or environmental impacts of mixtures of active and inert chemical ingredients.
  • Phenothrin (Sumithrin), a pesticide often used to control mosquitoes, can result in lung irritation, and has been documented to cause asthmatic responses in those exposed.
  • Piperonyl-butoxide, a synergist intended to magnify the toxicity of synthetic pyrethroids, has not been tested in combination with these active ingredients, and is considered a possible human carcinogen by EPA.
  • Our coalition partners at PEER exposed the fact that the pesticide the state used in its mosquito spraying program was contaminated with PFAS, a group of highly toxic chemicals. This resulted in a nationwide recall and change in packaging, but has not eliminated all PFAS in pesticides.

(References for the above three points, respectively):

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of toxins!

Mosquito Prevention Tip #1: Seek out and drain all standing water on your property at least once a week to interrupt breeding cycles.For more ways to control mosquitoes in a proactive and ecological way, please see this blog post from the Xerces Society.

More resources for Opting Out

(Last updated: 4/25)

Abating mosquito-borne disease is best achieved through a science-based approach that prioritizes preventative measures. These measures include surveillance, monitoring, public education on eliminating breeding sites and personal protective actions, consideration of local ecology, habitat manipulation, larviciding with biological materials, full disclosure of all pesticide use, advance notice of spraying, and opt-out opportunities.

Mosquito adulticides are hazardous chemicals that should be given strong consideration as to their need and effectiveness before any use occurs. Aerially applied mosquito adulticides are excessively risky in exposures to people and nontarget organisms, are relatively ineffective in relation to those risks, and should be completely prohibited. The following resources can be used to support the need for a policy that achieves the above purpose statement.

Resources for Effective Mosquito Management

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has resources to assist landowners and communities with implementing effective, ecologically-based mosquito management practices: https://xerces.org/pesticides/effective-mosquito-management

Hazards and Ineffectiveness of Mosquito Adulticides

Importance of a Science-Based Ecological Approach

Management Strategies – Beyond Pesticides

Examples From Other Communities

City of Boulder, Colorado West Nile Virus Mosquito Management Plan

Scientific Studies

Coalition Partners

Call for Ecological Mosquito Control: End Aerial Spraying!

Proposed legislation (S.547/H.985) in the 2025-26 state legislative session, filed by Senator Jo Comerford and Representative Kathleen LaNatra, replaces the Commonwealth’s outdated and expensive mosquito management system with one that is more effective, affordable, transparent, ecologically responsible, and scientifically based.

The more emails (and calls!) that legislators receive from their constituents, the more likely they are to cosponsor a piece of legislation and the more likely that bill will advance through the legislative process.

Please use this form to contact your state legislators in support of:

“An Act establishing an ecologically-based mosquito management program in the Commonwealth to protect public health”

See/share our coalition fact sheet on the bill here.

    On January 26, 2022, Senator Adam Hinds, Representative Dr. Tami Gouviea and the MASSquito Coalition hosted a legislative briefing about the need for ecologically sound mosquito disease management program for our Commonwealth.

    Subject Matter Experts included:

    • Dr. Kyla Bennet, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
    • Dr. Flaminia Catteruccia, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    • Dr. Brita Lundberg, Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility
    • Sarah Hoyle, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

    Watch (and share) a video of the presentation, below:

    And… here’s a cute video of eels eating mosquito larvae, demonstrating their efficacy at controlling mosquito populations: