#spartanmosquito — Public Fediverse posts

Had the best phone call yesterday with a person at the EPA about my latest FOIA request. She said [paraphrasing here]: "My job is all about transparency and I love it. I'm going to give your request my top priority and I apologize that your request has taken so long to fulfill." She sounded like she'd had a lot of coffee. Gives me hope that I'll someday get details on how Spartan Mosquito evaded enforcement action. #SpartanMosquito #mosquitoes #mississippi #epa #foia #pesticides #hattiesburg

In super depressing personal news, I recently learned that the settlement I got last year from Spartan Mosquito is fully taxable. This means that I lost $36,000 defending myself against those charlatans. I've reactivated my GoFundme campaign but that's probably futile unless Bill Gates sees it. Such a bummer. #SpartanMosquito #slapp #legal #mosquitoes #lawsuit https://www.gofundme.com/f/legal-defense-against-spartan-mosquito-corporation

Huge thanks to the people sending me pics of Spartan Mosquito Pro Techs being illegally sold in California. Here's one from a Home Depot in Rohnert Park. The CA Dept of Pesticide Regulation has assigned an inspector to the situation, so keep them coming. EACH instance = $10,000 fine for the Mississippi company that makes them. #SpartanMosquito #pesticides #mosquitoes #california #mississippi

Just submitted a FOIA request for information on the EPA's enforcement activities against Spartan Mosquito. Given results from my past FOIAs I know that multiple attorneys were working on an action but then Administrator Wheeler and at least one senator (Hyde-Smith) intervened to kill it. I'm not sure what will come back, if anything, but still worth a try. #SpartanMosquito #pesticides #mosquitoes #epa #foia #mississippi

Just sent another futile message about the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech to the pesticide enforcement folks at the EPA. My latest find is that Home Depot's website says, "Easy mosquito killer ensures freedom from mosquitoes for 30 days." While it might be easy (just add water and shake!), the part about "ensures freedom from mosquitoes" does not appear as an approved claim on the device's EPA registration. Agency has the authority to fine retailers for false statements like this but I suspect nothing will happen. #SpartanMosquito #mosquitoes #pesticides #epa

I would be hugely entertained and grateful if some of you would join the Spartan Mosquito Facebook group (link) and post some questions or comments about the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech. E.g., "I'm in California and having trouble ordering. Any suggestions?" And if you have the tubes in your yard, share some pics of what is inside ("Is this normal? Just dead ants?"). Or pics from afar that show complete lack of mosquitoes near tubes. I would love to see how the company responds. Group also accepts anonymous posts. Pretty please. #SpartanMosquito #mosquitoes #facebook #mississippi #yeast #sugar #co2 #insects https://www.facebook.com/groups/370783479165717

I received an anonymous tip via my blog's contact page that Spartan Mosquito is disposing of chemicals out of a side door at its warehouse in Laurel, Mississippi. And that company is selling expired containers of Spartan Mosquito GO!, a picaridin-based repellent. Sadly, still no information on what they've been burning in the grass near the building. #SpartanMosquito #mississippi #pesticide #mosquitoes

Just sent an email to the EPA and to pesticide regulators in all 50 states urging them to initiate enforcement action against Mississippi-based AC2T, Inc., for false claims made on the Amazon listing for the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech. Ad claims the device "eliminates mosquitoes" and provides "superior protection" for weeks. In reality, device kills zero mosquitoes for a total of zero weeks of protection. My prediction is that nobody will write back and nothing will be done. Amazon ships out approximately 10,000 boxes of these tubes per week. #SpartanMosquito #epa #mississippi #mosquitoes #pesticide #amazon

Anyone on reddit have a minute to waste? Some anonymous person has accused me of being "misleading or worse" for not disclosing that I was sued by the company (Spartan Mosquito) I was commenting about. Do I seriously need to bore people with backstory given that said company was scolded by judge and in fact had to pay me damages for misuse of the courts?? #SpartanMosquito #mosquitoes #austin #texas #reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/AustinGardening/comments/1kde8su/comment/mr1y0uv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

In my quest to bring down Spartan Mosquito, I'll report even the smallest thing if it might make their day unpleasant. Yesterday I alerted various officials in Mississippi that the company was doing open burning, something you can't do without a permit. My evidence was from Google Street View. In 2022 you could see a pile of boxes in the field, and in 2024 you can see the area smoking. #mississippi #SpartanMosquito

As some of you know, a Mississippi pesticide company sued me in 2019 over my negative review of its scam device, the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator. That litigation ended this year when the judge threw out the case on the merits. But given the legal system in the United States, the company wasn't forced to pay the substantial legal fees I'd racked up. So I filed a malicious prosecution claim. Well, this week I received a settlement check that fully covers my costs. Next on my to-do list: get the EPA and FTC to investigate the company for fraud. I will get this product off the shelves someday, somehow. #mosquitoes #law #slapp #legal #mississippi #hattiesburg #SpartanMosquito

Fun fact: whenever the EPA receives an application for a new pesticide or a new pesticide use, it is required by law to publish a notice in the Federal Register so that the public can send in comments. For some reason (political pressure, I'm assuming) the EPA decided to not do this for the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech's application, which was clearly a new use for boric acid, the active ingredient. Seems like somebody could sue the Agency over this. #FOIA #EPA #pesticide #FIFRA #SpartanMosquito #mississippi

One person who comes up a lot in the FOIA documents is me. And apparently I was the only one writing to the EPA with concerns about Spartan Mosquito's fraud. If there had been multiple people complaining to the EPA I'm fairly sure the Agency would have done the right thing and denied a registration. But because it was just me, and because I sent numerous emails, they wrote me off as a nut-job with a grudge. I hope, someday, that they own up to their massive mistake. Granting a registration to a pesticide with zero percent efficacy is inexcusable even when there's political pressure. #mosquitoes #pesticide #epa #SpartanMosquito

I also learned from the FOIA results that as the EPA was granting a registration to the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech, Region 4 of the EPA (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee) was planning an *enforcement* action against the company for its first scam product, the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator (water, sucrose, table salt, and yeast). Political pressure apparently scuttled this action. Millions of Americans believe these tubes work. #mosquitoes #EPA #SpartanMosquito

Years ago I submitted a FOIA request for EPA emails relating to the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech (a tube filled with water, sucrose, yeast, & boric acid). I was interested in how the device managed to secure an EPA registration even though it doesn't kill mosquitoes. I now have the documents and they confirm that (1) EPA scientists knew the device didn't work but (2) political pressure was sufficient to bury those concerns. #EPA #pesticide #FOIA #SpartanMosquito #mississippi

An entertaining part of going through FOIA results is seeing the emails where they talk about me. I'm viewed by the EPA as pestiferous (fair). And they discuss the strategy of sending me "generic" responses (their wording) to make me go away. The documents confirm my suspicion that Agency's actions (i.e., inactions) would likely have been different if a second person had written in with a similar complaint. If 10 people had voiced concerns the pesticide would have been removed from shelves already. #FOIA #EPA #pesticide #mosquitoes #mississippi #SpartanMosquito

Aside from providing the EPA with fraudulent data in support of a pesticide registration application (that's a crime for which one can get jail time, fyi), Spartan Mosquito *withheld* critical data: evidence that the CO2 produced by the tubes is far below the level needed to attract mosquitoes. I.e., the tubes have ZERO efficacy because mosquitoes don't even go near the tubes. I've alerted the EPA but they apparently don't care. I'm not sure what the next step should be. Anyone? #epa #pesticide #fraud #CO2 #CarbonDioxide #SpartanMosquito #mississippi #mosquitoes

Just how bad is Spartan Mosquito's efficacy data? Every single experiment lacked proper controls and replication, plus many were clearly designed/rigged in a way to produce the desired outcome. In my opinion, Spartan Mosquito *knowingly* provided misleading and false information to the EPA and state agencies. I've posted some of their data on my blog for those who are curious. #epa #pesticide #fraud #SpartanMosquito #mississippi #mosquitoes https://colinpurrington.com/2022/11/spartan-mosquito-efficacy-data/

Several years ago I submitted a FOIA to the EPA for documents relating to the registration of the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech. In particular, I wanted to know what data the company had submitted and how on earth the EPA approved the scam device. Yesterday I finally got the files, 1219 of them. And it's pretty much as I imagined: EPA scientists fully understood that the device doesn't attract mosquitoes, and viewed the efficacy experiments as so poorly done that statistical tests couldn't even be performed. But political pressure was so great that they approved the product anyway. And EPA still allows it to be sold to Americans, which is shameful. I'll do a full blog post soon. #foia #pesticide #epa #mosquitoes #fraud #SpartanMosquito #mississippi

If anyone would like to see my blog posts about Spartan Mosquito, here you go. I've spent thousands of hours researching the owners, filing FOIAs, reading articles, doing experiments, and emailing scientists. I have more updates coming soon. #mosquitoes #SpartanMosquito #mississippi https://colinpurrington.com/2021/01/posts-about-spartan-mosquito/

I was interviewed by science journalist Brooke Borel about Spartan Mosquito, the Mississippi company that sells a popular but ineffective mosquito-control device ... and that sued me for publicizing the scam. Her investigation was published today in Undark Magazine. #mosquitoes #insects #legal #slapp #entomology #pesticide #regulation #science #epa #malaria #africa #mississippi #ClassAction #SpartanMosquito https://undark.org/2024/06/12/biologist-blog-spartan-mosquito-eradicator/

I'm saddened by how many influencers on tiktok are in love with Spartan Mosquito Pro Techs, a known scam. And if you make any type of sciency or factual comment (here, "the tubes are definitely not filled with picaridin") you get ridiculed by true believers and then blocked. #mosquitoes #tiktok #illiteracy #science #SpartanMosquito #scam

Excited to announce I'm suing Spartan Mosquito for using the courts to retaliate after I reviewed its scam product on my blog and notified regulators. I.e., after company's SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) was dismissed, I can use a Dragonetti Act claim (in Pennsylvania) to get my legal fees reimbursed. Stay tuned. #mosquitoes #slapp #legal #hattiesburg #mississippi #pennsylvania #insects #entomology #pesticides #FreeSpeech #SpartanMosquito

A lengthy update on Spartan Mosquito.

(1) My trial is scheduled to begin June 20th in Philadelphia. Am currently waiting for judge to rule on several issues, notably whether Spartan Mosquito still needs to comply with his earlier ruling on discovery that expressly compelled them to do so.
(2) The class-action lawsuit against Spartan Mosquito apparently ended in a $3 million settlement before the suit even gained class-action status; details are being looked at by a judge.
(3) Spartan Mosquito is still in court with its former ad agency. Lots of drama there.
(4) The EPA has not announced charges against Spartan Mosquito but has asked me to continue supplying information to its enforcement division.
(5) Spartan Mosquito is still selling its tubes in feed stores, hardware stores, its website, and on Amazon. Still claims the tubes kill mosquitoes.
(6) Journalists are not interested.

#SpartanMosquito #mosquitoes #insects #pesticides #fraud

More details at https://colinpurrington.com/2021/01/posts-about-spartan-mosquito/