Insecticide sprayed in Rock Hill shouldn’t hurt bees or people, officials say

City and pest control officials have emphasized that the insecticide to be sprayed over part of Saluda Road and several schools Wednesday night is not harmful to humans.

They said it is specifically targeted to kill adult mosquitos.

The insecticide was to be sprayed within a 1-mile radius of Oakdale Fire Station One on Saluda Road after both mosquitos and a person infected with West Nile virus were found in Rock Hill.

Three schools in the area were also to be sprayed: South Pointe High School, Oakdale Elementary School and Saluda Trail Middle School.

The city hired Gregory Pest Solutions to spray the insecticide, Aqua-reslin, from a truck Wednesday night starting at 8 p.m.

Larry Motes, director of operations at Gregory Pest Solutions, said Aqua-reslin specifically targets adult mosquitos.

When sprayed, the water-based insecticide particles are so small, it’s nearly invisible, Motes said.

“There’s no residue that’s going to be on anything,” he said.

He said the insecticide is designed to stay suspended in the air for about 4 to 6 hours, so mosquitos will fly through the chemical.

Many residents worried about bee populations before the spraying.

Motes said the company will start spraying at 8 p.m. to avoid pollinators – and the mosquitos carrying West Nile will be most active at dusk.

“Pollinators will be at rest and honey bees in particular will go back to the hive at nights,” Motes said. “So we’ll have mosquitos most active and pollinators least active at this time.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Insecticide sprayed in Rock Hill shouldn’t hurt bees or people, officials say."