No link found on spraying, illnesses
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State environmental health experts said Thursday that they found no solid link between the hundreds of illnesses reported by Central Coast residents and the pesticides sprayed on their communities to fight an invasive moth.
State and federal officials sprayed residential areas in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties several times last fall to combat the light brown apple moth, which has infested nine counties from Marin to Monterey.
After the spraying, hundreds of people complained of shortness of breath, sharp stomach pains and itchy eyes after the applications of a synthetic pheromone mixture.
After reviewing 487 individual complaints, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment could not confirm a direct link between the sprays and the reported symptoms.
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