Mosquito spraying throughout Camden County Thursday

Teegate

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Sep 17, 2002
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The area's in question are listed but if you want to know more click the link.

Waterford
  • Pestletown Rd.
  • Curry Ave.
  • Autumn Crest Dr.
  • Hunters Ln.
  • Pilgrim Way
  • Harvest Ln.

Winslow

  • Wharton Ave.
  • Howard Ave.
  • Wharton State Forest Rd.



 

Boyd

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Jul 31, 2004
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Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Growing up in St. Louis in the 1950's, the mosquitoes were terrible. The fogger truck would make regular runs though my neighborhood, followed by a whole squadron of kids on bikes. And, yeah, I was one of them. :D Later, we got an attachment for the lawnmower that dripped the DDT juice into the muffler. So, that became another part of my chores... mowing the lawn and fogging the yard at the same time!

I have seen very few mosquitoes here this year myself, certainly no need for spraying (or maybe they already sprayed and I didn't realize?) Really, even though I have a creek and wetlands on my property, mosquitoes aren't usually a problem and that has always surprised me a bit.
 
Jul 12, 2006
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Gloucester City, NJ
We need it badly. I didn't hear anything last night but then again, I'm a pretty sound sleeper when I am asleep. :)
It may have gotten postponed because of the drizzle overnight???

I miss the good old days of riding my bicycle around in the mosquito fog from the County trucks. I'm still here:D

Ahhh, the good 'ol smell of DDT . Can't tell you how many miles throughout my childhood that I drove my bike behind that spray truck.
 
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RJG

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Nov 19, 2023
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Sea Isle City, NJ
I think all kids in the 60’s and 70’s rode their bikes behind the mosquito sprayer. Our parents were okay with us doing that…but don’t get caught smoking a cigarette! :cool:
 
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Boyd

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A quick search said that DDT was banned nationally in 1972. I was a sophmore in college by then. Guessing that some individual states/localities had already banned it by then. I know there are other chemicals you can still use for mosquito fogging. Working in theatre technology most of my life, there are various ways to simulate fog/smoke/mist on stage. The most basic (used in all those cool old monster movies, etc) was just spraying oil on a heated surface. I think this was mostly mineral oil, which creates tiny particles that float in the air for a long time.

Anyway, last I checked, current theatrical smoke machines are just fancier versions of this, using either mineral oil or proprietary recipies. Then there are something called "haze machines" which slowly churn out a fine mist of little particles that hang in the air (the old ones used mineral oil, some of the new ones use glycerol, which is plant-based). After you run these for a little while, they create a pretty uniform haze that makes light beams looks cool. There are also "fog machines" that simply use dry ice dropped into hot water to create a dense fog that hugs the floor instead of rising into the air. To further confuse things, some people call all three of these technologies "fog machines" but they're actually very different.

During my years at Opera Philadelphia, I was able to negotiate the use of haze machines and dry ice fog machines with the singers' union but they absolutely refused to accept the use of any smoke machines! Other kinds of entertainment have their own unions and rules, but are typically more permissive while still setting limits on the use of smoke machines.
 
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MuckSavage

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Apr 1, 2005
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Boyd, you are correct in the mineral oil being used in smoke machines. I have a smoke machine for auto diagnostics and it uses mineral oil
 
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Boyd

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Actually, it's very common to have glycol-based smoke fluids today, for example


Back when I was doing this stuff, I did some research and there was evidence that it could cause respiratory issues, depending on exposure, etc. That's ultimately why the singers wouldn't accept it. What I always found interesting was that e-cigarettes are also glycol based (AFAIK), so they are literally like sucking on a fog machine. :ninja:
 

Wick

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Forked River
When I was young and played in a band with some friends. We used to have a smoke machine set up in the garage. This being the type you poured a gallon of some type of clear liquid into it. After awhile It would leave a residue all over my drum set. At that point I wondered what it looked like in our lungs so we stopped using it.
 
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