NEW DEADLINE 9/25: EPA Reopens the Comment Period for Google’s Mosquito Registration
The EPA has granted Hawai‘i Unites’ request to extend the deadline for submitting public comments on Google’s request for Section 3 registration of their mosquitoes for release in Hawai‘i
Last week, Hawai‘i Unites submitted a request to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to extend the comment period for Google’s request for Section 3 registration of their “Debug quinx males” bacteria-infected mosquitoes planned for release in Hawai‘i.
“Per Hawai'i Unites’ comment submitted to the EPA on 8/31/25…this product could cause serious risks to the health of Hawai'i’s people, environment, and wildlife — including threatened and endangered native birds, and it may have significant impacts to our islands’ fragile ecosystems. Previous comment periods on Verily Life Sciences LLC’s biopesticide ‘DQB Males’ yielded substantive comments which included concerns referencing peer-reviewed studies and scientific expert opinions…
Under these circumstances, we believe that the 15-day comment period provided by the EPA for this Section 3 registration request was insufficient. The public participation process must allow adequate time for commenters — including independent scientists, conservation groups, and concerned community members — to evaluate technical and ecological data.”
Today, the EPA responded to our request and has agreed to reopen the comment period, extending the deadline through Thursday, September 25th.
During the prior period, over 200 comments were received, and the comments posted on the EPA docket are overwhelmingly in opposition to EPA registration of these mosquitoes.
If you have not yet sent in your comment opposing EPA approval of Google’s Section 3 registration request, please take the time to make your voice heard.
The extended deadline to comment is next Thursday, September 25th, 2025, at 5:59pm Hawai‘i Standard Time. Send comments here:
COMMENT on Google’s EPA Section 3 Request to Register Mosquitoes
“I’m opposed to EPA approval of Google LLC’s FIFRA Section 3 registration request for Debug quinx males (DQB Males) Wolbachia-bacteria-infected mosquitoes Docket ID EPA-HQ-OPP-2024-0428.”
A more detailed sample comment is in our newsletter, along with more information about Google’s mosquito plans for the islands.
“Google is now directly targeting the Hawaiian Islands with their experimental lab-altered mosquitoes, seeking to register their ‘Debug quinx males’ (DQB Males) mosquitoes with the EPA under Section 3 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). According to EPA docket documents, the original applicant for this registration was Verily Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet. Verily is the manufacturer of the mosquitoes currently being released on Maui and Kaua‘i under EPA Section 18 Emergency Exemption. No explanation is given for the change of Section 3 applicant from Verily to Google.”
“With no data showing safety or efficacy of the Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes currently being released in Hawai‘i under EPA Section 18 emergency exemption, Google now wants to plow ahead with Section 3 registration of their mosquito product, specifically for release in Hawai‘i. If this registration is allowed to move forward, it won’t be long before the biotech industry starts pushing these mosquitoes for conservation use throughout the country and worldwide and pushing for their use to control mosquitoes in the name of public health.”
Mahalo for standing with us in challenging these dangerous mosquito release experiments and voicing our opposition to this reckless agenda of using the Hawaiian Islands as biotech testing grounds.
Your tax-deductible donations support the work that we’re doing to protect the ‘āina.
Aloha,
Tina Lia
Founder
Hawai‘i Unites
HawaiiUnites.org
Hawai‘i Unites is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of our environment and natural resources. Your tax-deductible donations help us to fulfill our mission of honoring and protecting our sacred connection to the natural world.
Report a Mosquito Bite
The State of Hawai‘i and its multi-agency partnership Birds, Not Mosquitoes have been releasing bacteria-infected mosquitoes in East Maui and conducting pilot study releases on Kaua‘i since 2023. As part of our ongoing research and documentation, Hawai‘i Unites has been compiling reports from throughout the islands about unusual mosquito bite reactions. If you’ve been bitten by a mosquito and would like to report the incident, please complete our Mosquito Bite Incident Report.
Tina, see website contact form. Call or email me, keep in touch please. 🤙