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Pesticide and safety

Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program – Gold Member of the EPA

ProBest Pest Management is a Gold member since 2010. A pesticide can be and should be considered dangerous and should be handled accordingly, they can also be useful.

Performance.
Participation.
Responsibility.
Education.

Established in 1994, the Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP) is an EPA partnership program. It works with the nation’s pesticide-user community to promote Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. PESP is guided by the principle that partnership programs complement the standards and decisions established by regulatory and registration actions. The informed actions of chemical users can further reduce the risks from pests and pesticides. By playing a major role in ensuring human health and environmental safety.

PESP members are also encouraged to get involved in PESP goals, which currently include:

IPM in Schools Program – aims to reduce the risk that chemical exposure poses to children and school employees by promoting sensible applications of pesticides around schools.
Landscaping Initiative – seeks to enhance the environmental, human health, and economic benefits associated with landscapes while reducing the need for pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation, and energy inputs by working in concert with nature.
Tick IPM – seek to identify the most cost effective approaches to reduce tick encounters and incidence of tick borne diseases by collaborating with partners (federal, state, local government, NGOs, growers) that actively share experiences on pest prevention strategies.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-KMRyaSEbw[/embedyt]

News we didn’t need to hear about

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News about Bed bugs and pesticides

News is showing research that bed bugs are adapting to pesticide usage and they might be thickening their skins to avoid the pesticide. Every day we are learning more and more about what is happening in the way of bedbugs, some cities are

“Bed bugs are becoming resistant to some Insecticides”

or “Cuticle Thickening in a Pyrethroid-Resistant strain of Common Bed Bug”

The EPA is deciding on reducing pesticide usage, what and if they decide to reduce some pesticides can influence what is used and when. It may be that in the future we will be limited to newer products.

Photo by PPMA

Please use caution when using a pesticide or rodenticide

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What criteria do you use when you decide to use a pesticide, do you read the label and decide the bug is listed on container or do you just buy it because?

One of my biggest pest peeves (yes I said pest) is using a rodenticide in the open where anything could find it and eat it. All and I said all rodent baits require that they be sealed in locked or secured devices.

and my other pesticide pest peeve

Is the use of DE or Diatomaceous earth or aerosol foggers. I have seen mounds of DE placed on floors and carpet for the prevention of Bed Bugs, this stuff can become airborne and you can breath this stuff into your lungs. I have also seen people use way to many aerosol foggers for what they are attempting to kill. Some of these foggers only make the critters hide deeper and become more difficult to treat.

There are of course some tips to using pesticides and of course I recommend you contacting a Professional (like ProBest Pest Management) as we are trained in these products and there usage. But if you are going to Do It Yourself here are some tips.

Read the label, SDS and any other materials associated, and follow the directions.
If your are going to store the product, make it safe. If your storing in garage remember it gets hot and if the bait has oil in it it might evaporate and become useless. I’ve had people complain that a product wasn’t working and it was really old and had spoiled.
Does the product allow interior, exterior treatments, can it be mixed, can it be used around water or if it is raining or just rained?

It all works if everyone does their job, what is it?

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Bugs can and will move if given the opportunities. I have spoken about this before and I train my technicians to know about the bugs in others areas just so we can be sure if one pops up. What do I mean by this statement?

Example #1 – Someone moves from Kansas and they store their boxes in a temporary storage facility. They then move across the country and they accidentally bring a spider or other pest across state lines.

Example #2 – Someone visiting from another country visits the US and brings in a piece of fruit which as bugs on it.

Example #3 – Someone moves to Arizona and brings a potted plant with them.

All these stories could be true and the USDA does a great job of tracking and stopping some of these pests from moving around. A recent Aphid – SugarCane Aphid has been in Florida since 1977 and recently was discovered in Texas. Bugs do move and given the right circumstances will take advantage of every possible chance to move to another location.

Hey somebody finally gets it, pesticides and the need to use them

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“EPA pesticide bans threaten you and the economy” by Alan Caruba.

Not killing pests, insects and rodents, is a great way to put everyone’s health in jeopardy. New York City announced a new war in May against rats and will spend $600,000 to hire new inspectors to deal with an increased population. Lyme disease and West Nile Fever are just two of the diseases that require serious insect pest control. A wide variety of insects spread many diseases from Salmonella to Hantavirus. Termites do billions in property damage every year.

I’m a big believer in IPM or Integrated Pest Management – the use of all things in your toolbox before you get or have to use pesticide. There are many things out there that can kill you and all I’m saying is that we have to use common sense in our actions. Everyone touts these GREEN oils and products and if they all worked as well as pesticides I would think we as an industry would use them more and more. But the facts are not conclusive yet that they hold up as long or kill as efficiently as pesticides do. We are using more and more inside versus pesticide because we promote outside first and inside only as the last option.

Why worry about the pests?

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Throughout history we humans have done some terrible stuff to each other, wars only to mention one. But did you know that compared to all the wars ever fought the bugs have killed more of us.

Yes number one the list is Mosquitoes, they have killed lots of humans and animals. Malaria, Dengue Fever and Yellow Fever are among the biggest threats to us still to this day.
Fleas probably rank as number 2 and may have contributed to killing 1/3 of the people in Europe during 1340’s known as Bubonic Plague, still with us today.
My number 3 may not have killed as many as above but worldwide cause more damage to food, foodstuffs including grains and other type products. Rodents including mice and rats may spoil 1/3 of all grains worldwide and may directly lead to food shortages or starvation than any other insect or wildlife.

So yes I worry that as we progress as a society that we consider the wise use of pesticides. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is very useful within the confines of general pest management but there are reasons why pesticide use must continue. This article “Kissing Bug disease prompts growing concern in U.S.” shows that the concerns are justified. Here is Arizona we deal with Bark Scorpions and there is no magic bullet to stop them. The only method is home sealing and proper use of pesticides, so until that day arrives where we can target this critter I see no alternative than to spray them before they make it into our homes.

The trend of GREEN, what do I mean?

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As Kermit the Frog has said numerous times “It ain’t easy being Green”. The trend over the last 10 years or more is to lean against the use of pesticides unless it is absolutely needed and I agree. Now with that said, I do believe that pesticides are needed. Numerous people die every year from diseases brought on by vectors like mosquitoes or fleas. Along with that number are the people that are stung or biten by things like scorpions, bees and spiders.

“Green Buildings” Have potential to improve health of low-income housing residents.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the protocol of using tools to stop the pests from gaining entry before using pesticides. It still allows the use of pesticides but after using those tools to keep them out. Examples of this include home-sealing, eliminating hiding spaces and rocks on your property and installing or updating garage or door thresholds/door sweeps.

Does your pest company still power spray or spray inside monthly?

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There are several things happening around the U.S. which may impact pest control in your specific area.

The EPA has been trying to reduce the use of rodentcides, mainly due to secondary poisonings. My hope is that people use common sence in placement of poisons, don’t randomly throw packets throughout attics or crawlspaces. ProBest has not used any of those packets since 2005 and we have swtiched to Terad3 in rodent stations.
The restrictions of pesticides continue, power spraying of Permethrin type chemicals are just one of the ways the EPA is limiting chemical usage.

The use of IPM or Integrated Pest Management continues to be the choice of real prevention of pests. So here are a few tips to reduce the use of pesticides and allow them to continue to be used in the future.

Be aware of placement especially of rodentcides. I’m a big fan of not using any rodenticide within a structure, use of snap traps can be just as effective.
Use pestcides that can be hidden and placed where insects will find them, crack and crevices, block voids and wall voids.
Don’t spray any flowering plant.
Follow IPM standards.
Always read and follow label and use directions.

Great info on pesticides – understanding is the key.

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Every time something happens people are quick to jump to conclusions that something is bad. I found this letter “Modern pesticides are safe to use (letter). “One of the things we are taught is never to mention that pesticides are safe. Now with said, I do agree it is in fact a pesticide and we all know that “Cide” means a thing that kills = insecticide.

Salt is actually dangerous LD-50 3000 mg/kg (milligrams of substance per kilogram of body mass), take a look at Botox (1 ng/k).

So this by no means should make anybody complacent to the use of pesticides, we use them daily and we take precautions. We use personal protective equipment as required by the label, so please read the label.

Have you ever really read the can or label, before you sprayed?

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I think that most people just grab the can and spray and since I’m in the biz, I just wanted to make sure everyone is aware of how dangerous that is. Look at all the stories about people that Do It Yourself (DIY) and almost blow themselves or their family/neighbors into the next world. For example what if the product contained a petroleum solvent which could explode or cause damage to other products or surfaces.

Story time – I remember sometime ago when I first learned how to use my favorite pest control tool, the bellows duster. I was dusting a wall outlet and in those days, the duster was made out of metal – apparently I got to close to the terminals and almost electrocuted myself. I learned a valuable lesson – I installed a plastic small hose to the end – that won’t happen again. The lesson here is that I was able to learn from that experience, what would have happened if I had inserted a spray into a void and there was flame – boom. I could have killed myself, so I’m thankful it was just sparks and a jolt.

So please read and understand the product you are using, I want you to be safe and grow old.