The Issue
The Vineyard Conservation Society recognizes that tick-borne illnesses have become an increasingly serious public health concern on the island. We are committed to educating the community on responsible, science-based approaches to tick management that safeguard both our community's health and the delicate ecosystems we work to preserve. There has been concern in recent years about the rise in spraying across the island and the environmental impacts on both our water quality and pollinator population. This is an ongoing project; please check back or sign up for our newsletter for updates, and don’t hesitate to reach out with specific questions.
What is VCS tracking and why are we concerned?
VCS has completed preliminary outreach to local businesses to better understand the market, who is spraying, what they are spraying, and regulations or licensing requirements. We are currently researching targeted spraying programs, increasingly used on the island to reduce ticks in backyards—as well as studies that weigh their effectiveness against potential impacts. The potential impacts include.
-
- Water Quality: Tick sprays, especially pyrethroid-based ones, can wash off lawns into nearby streams, ponds, or storm drains during rain, where even tiny amounts are highly toxic to fish and aquatic insects and can disrupt the wider aquatic food web.
-
- Pollinators & Other Insects: Tick sprays are broad-spectrum insecticides that don’t discriminate, so they can kill or impair bees and other pollinators on contact — especially if sprayed on blooming flowers — while also wiping out beneficial insects like predatory beetles and spiders that help keep other pests in check.
-
- Human Health: Skin, eye, or respiratory irritation can occur from direct or indirect contact or inhalation during/after application. Children and pets are at higher risk due to smaller body size and more time spent close to or on treated lawns
Ultimately, we agree with local and state representatives that we need to decrease tick populations overall in the long run, which will, in turn, reduce the amount of local spraying.
What are businesses and people spraying for?
People on Martha’s Vineyard are mainly spraying their lawns for ticks and mosquitoes. The trend has been steadily increasing, fueled by the rise of the lone star tick, on top of already-high levels of other tick species.
What are the sprays made out of? Are these regulated?
Businesses are spraying both essential oil-based sprays (often called “natural”) and synthetic (non-toxic) sprays.
The “natural” spray is usually a mix of lemongrass oil, geraniol, castor oil, cedarwood oil, and coconut oil soap. This product is not registered with the US EPA because it is FIFRA25(b). Section 25(b) of FIFRA exempts certain “minimum risk pesticides” from the standard EPA registration process. Normally, any pesticide sold or distributed in the U.S. must go through EPA’s rigorous registration process (testing, labeling, review, etc.) before it can be legally marketed. However, products that qualify under 25(b) are considered to pose such a low risk to human health and the environment that Congress/EPA decided the full registration process isn’t necessary.
The EPA classifies natural oils as “minimum risk pesticides” to mammals. That being said, the sprays are non-selective and will kill pollinators and other beneficial insects they come in contact with. They have also been known to be an allergen for humans and pets.
Synthetic sprays include chemicals such as permethrin and bifenthrin, known as synthetic pyrethroids. They are effective in killing ticks. However, users should be aware that most of these products have labels warning that they are toxic to fish, shellfish, and bees. Bifenthrin works by interfering with the insect’s nervous system, causing overstimulation and eventual paralysis and death. Permethrin is another widely used pyrethroid insecticide with a similar mechanism of action to Bifenthrin. Permethrin has a lower fluorine content than Bifenthrin, resulting in a relatively shorter residual activity while still providing highly effective pest control.
Does spraying cover the entire property or just boundaries?
Applicators focus on areas including: leaf litter, mulch beds, fallen pine needles, Lawn/wooded borders, dense shrubs and tree cover that trap humidity, stone walls, woodpiles, and garden structures. There is no way to monitor exactly where spraying occurs.
How are spraying companies regulated?
Massachusetts pesticide law requires that all persons who apply pesticides in public areas and private places used for human occupation and habitation must be in possession of a valid license or certification issued by the state.
There is currently no local Board of Health oversight, although Conservation Commissions do have oversight of wetland regulations that apply to spraying, which state that you cannot spray within 100 feet of a wetland (or, in West Tisbury and around Great Ponds, within 200 feet of a wetland).
Is there any training needed to start a business and spray?
Yes — Massachusetts requires both an initial exam and ongoing continuing education. There’s no formal “class” requirement to sit the exam, but MDAR conducts closed-book written exams to measure competency in using, selling, and applying pesticides, and applicants must be at least 18 years old on the exam date.
Current Studies
There are limited comprehensive studies on the effectiveness of tick spraying.
Vermont Center for Ecostudies: Tick Study
Across approximately 200 properties surveyed in Vermont and New Hampshire, the study documented low tick densities in lawns, averaging about 2 ticks per yard.
Depending on the pesticide being used, spraying reduced tick density by around 60%. But long term tick density remains unaffected by treatment. In a matter of a few weeks, the tick density seems to be back at pre-spraying levels, with ticks moving in from non-treated areas. The Backyard Tick Project found no relationship between tick density within a lawn and that property’s history of pesticide use. Some properties that had been sprayed more than 80 times over the last decade, and they had the same average tick densities in the lawn as a property that was just sprayed a week before for the first time.
Alarmingly, pesticide spraying was associated with a five to 30% immediate decline for most invertebrate groups within and along the edge of the sprayed lawns. Less mobile and soft-bodied arthropods, including caterpillars, were the most directly affected,” says Jason. Even natural or “environmentally friendly” pesticide alternatives, such as essential oil-based pesticides, have negative effects on pollinators.
Cary Institute — “The Tick Study” (2016–2021)
The study took place in Dutchess County, New York, which is home to some of the nation۪s highest rates of Lyme disease incidence. Residents of twenty-four neighborhoods were recruited to participate in the project. Each neighborhood consisted of 6-10 square blocks and roughly 100 properties.
The study tested whether two tick control methods, used separately or together, could reduce Lyme disease cases at the neighborhood level.
The Tick Control System™, or TCS , is a small box that attracts small mammals. When an animal enters the box, it receives a small dose of fipronil, the active ingredient in many tick treatments used on dogs and cats. Fipronil kills ticks on animals like mice and chipmunks, which are largely responsible for infecting ticks with the Lyme bacterium.
Metarhizium anisopliae is a fungus that occurs naturally in forest soils in eastern North America. It has been shown to kill ticks. A strain of this fungus, Met52, has been developed as a commercial product. It can be sprayed on vegetation where it kills ticks looking for hosts on which to feed.
“On properties that are routinely sprayed, I consistently observe far fewer insects. An occasional bee or damselfly may still appear, but the abundance, diversity and constant movement that characterize a healthy landscape are often diminished. That should give us pause.”
Cathy Verost, Landscaper
(click to read full letter to the editor)
Common Questions
What is the best way to protect ourselves while also protecting our environment?
The MOST effective, easiest, and least expensive way is to spray yourself and check yourself. The ticks are targeting you, so put the spray where it is most effective and will do the least amount of harm—on you and your clothing. If using permethrin, use 0.5% permethrin and spray outdoors, wear protective gloves, and let items dry completely before wearing. Never apply it directly to your skin or wear the clothes while spraying.
If I want to continue to spray, can I be more thoughtful about when, where, and how I spray?
While VCS opposes spraying, we are including below ways to reduce disturbance to other insects if spraying is being done. Please keep in mind that even with these practices, VCS is opposed to spraying because, in practice, landscaping companies are on tight schedules attending to many clients’ needs. They will not be able to optimize timing for everyone. Even if best practices were used EVERY time, there will still be impacts to our environment. These best practices do not negate the concerns; they only potentially decrease them.
- Time of day: Guidance from UMass Extension recommends applying pesticides when bees are not actively foraging, specifically between 6pm and 7am in Massachusetts, and to never spray on or near open flowers or plants in bloom.
Targeted/barrier spraying (perimeter of lawns, edges of woods, tick-favored brush) does far less damage than broadcast spraying over open fields or meadows.
Check the weather: Avoid spraying before rain, which can wash product into waterways and off-target areas.
Time of year: Target the two seasonal tick nymph/adult peaks: late spring (May–June) and early fall (September–October), when tick activity is highest, and treatment gives the most protection per application.
Sources: Umass Extension, pollinator-friendly Pest Management
Could we measure how much spraying is occurring island-wide?
The MA Department of Agricultural Resources collects and publishes an annual pesticide report, but they do not collect locations, so there’s no way to see how much pesticide is on the Island each year. VCS is looking into working with local town boards to investigate if it is possible to track spraying activity.