New study by state health officials released Thursday reveals there is not enough data to prove whether there was a link between light brown apple moth spraying and thousands of illness reports last fall in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

The presence of the light brown apple moth, an exotic pest native to Australia, was confirmed in California in March 2007 by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the light brown apple moth feeds on more than 2,000 different types of native and ornamental plants and trees including cypress, redwoods and oaks, and can attack more than 250 agricultural crops, including fruit trees, corn, Brussels sprouts and pumpkins.

Federal officials sprayed residential areas in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties with the CheckMate pheromone product in order to combat the light brown apple moth. The pheromone is designed to confuse male moth and prevent them from mating. Shortly after, people started to complain of feeling short of breath, sharp stomach pains, allergic reactions and other symptoms, but according to officials, most of the illness reports didn’t contain enough information to determine what really caused the symptoms.

"Our conclusion is we are unable to link the reported symptoms to the aerial spraying. There are several reasons why we were unable to establish a link. And one is that the symptoms came to us from a variety of sources," said Dr. Joan Denton, director of the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment who released the study, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The 32-page report was conducted with the help of state’s Department of Public Health and the Department of Pesticide Regulation and evaluated 463 reported cases of illness.

“More than 90 percent of the 463 symptom reports do not contain adequate information for us to determine whether or not there is a link between the reported symptoms and the Checkmate applications,” the report says.

The results of the report were a total disappointment for Santa Cruz and Monterey residents. Emily Levy of Santa Cruz said she was in her 40s and has lived in Santa Cruz for almost 10 years. After the spraying, she left the area but noticed increased fatigue right after she returned.

"It's illegal and immoral to experiment on people, and if you're going to conduct an experiment of this magnitude, you want to look at the results of the experiment," said Levy, a member of the California Alliance to Stop the Spray.

As the light brown apple moth program continues, (another spraying is scheduled for June) the state will monitor the safety of any future spraying. The study recommends that health officials should improve outreach programs and enhance systems for collecting and analyzing any reports of health effects following spray applications.

“We want to assure the public that we are responding to their safety concerns. Doctors will know how to recognize and treat symptoms if they occur, and we will collect complete information on any health effects that citizens report,” Denton said.

The full report is available at www.oehha.ca.gov.