Malathion Is Causing Few Health Problems, County Surveys Find

Although concern about malathion spraying is high in Orange County, few people report suffering health problems because of the pesticide falling around them, according to a survey released Wednesday at UC Irvine.

Less than 4% say their health has suffered, and 51% want the spraying to stop, according to the most recent Orange County Health Surveys.

“When you look at the health effects, you don’t have a high level,” said Dr. Hoda Anton-Culver, professor of epidemiology and one of the principal researchers of the survey. “But more than 50% are anxious and concerned, and because of this, we need to take a look at that.”

In another area of questioning, researchers found that young single people who do not own property are the least prepared for an earthquake and that preparedness-education efforts directed toward them are wasted.

“If the chancellor were to ask me, ‘What can I do to get the students prepared?’ I would say, ‘Don’t bother,’ ” said David Dooley, UCI professor of social ecology and a survey researcher. “I’d say: ‘Do it yourself. Put food and water in the basement. . . . (The students) simply aren’t going to do it.’ ”

The Orange County Health Surveys were created in 1988 and are conducted each spring and fall to monitor public medical needs. They are sponsored by the Irvine Health Foundation and UCI.

The most recent survey involved about 800 randomly selected residents. Its focus was on malathion spraying, earthquake preparedness and the Pap smear, a test that can help detect cervical cancer. General questions about health, diseases and behaviors such as drinking and smoking are asked in each survey in order to track trends.

In an effort to combat a Mediterranean fruit fly infestation, state-ordered malathion spraying began over Brea last November and over the Garden Grove area in January. The health survey was conducted in April, and researchers found that awareness of the spraying at that time throughout the county was high--98%. Although 196 of the survey participants said their residences were sprayed, researchers found that, according to state records, only 104 actually lived within the ZIP code areas of the spray zones.

“We were concerned about whether people knew they were being sprayed,” Anton-Culver said. With the exception of survey participants living within one ZIP code area, “there was high awareness,” she said.

Only 12 of the 130 respondents--or 9.2%--who lived within the spray zones complained of health ailments, with most mentioning respiratory or skin problems. Another 19 living in areas either next to or some distance from where the malathion was applied also said they suffered health problems.

Those figures are not alarmingly high, Anton-Culver said. In fact, when those incidences are compared to the incidence of all medical conditions for the county at large, “overall, there is no difference,” she said. Anton-Culver noted that too little time has passed to explore the question of whether long-term health problems are associated with malathion.

Still, the high level of anxiety produced by the malathion sprayings warrants a look at the “psychological effects” of them, Anton-Culver said.

Questions about earthquake concerns have been asked in the health surveys for the past two years. Social ecologist Dooley said that the concern level always jumps after a major temblor.

That anxiety, however, “degrades in a matter of weeks, maybe months,” especially if the temblor occurred elsewhere, Dooley said. “But I have a suspicion that in Santa Cruz, where you walk by crumbled buildings, it might last longer,” he said, alluding to the damage inflicted by the magnitude 7.1 quake that struck Northern California on Oct. 17, 1989.

Concern does not automatically translate into preparedness, though, Dooley said. Nearly 40% of the respondents--asked whether they are storing water and other supplies, putting aside flashlights and wrenches and securing shelves or water heaters--said they had taken no steps to ready themselves for the Big One.

Those most likely to be prepared for an earthquake are older, married, have families or own their homes, Dooley said. “If you have connections, you want to make a survivable nest.”

People who have no ties to family or property are least prepared to weather a major quake.

“Certain people will simply not prepare themselves,” he said. Students, young people, single people and apartment dwellers “find other life concerns more pressing. . . . It’s not good, bad or evil. It’s the way people are.”

Consequently, he said, any efforts to persuade that segment of society probably are wasted. He suggested that apartment owners--who must meet requirements for fire safety--should perhaps be required to stockpile food and water since it appears that the tenants are not going to do it.

O.C. Health Surveys UCI recently surveyed about 800 randomly selected residents on malathion spraying, earthquake preparedness and Pap smears, among other public health issues. Results of the malathion portion of the survey are shown below. %who want malathion spraying stopped Answer of 800 people polled: 51% Those who have been sprayed: 60% Those who have not been sprayed: 54% Source: UCI health survey