Pesticides and Safety
Pesticides and their use have become a hot topic.
It's difficult to write an unbiased article being that our company sells such
products, but it is possible to try to put pesticide use into its proper
prospective.
We get many questions about pesticides and
safety. There is no such thing as a non-toxic pesticide - that would be
illogical. A pesticide, by nature, is toxic. While there are food
quality pesticides that can be utilized for some pest species, these are not
always available for a wide variety of pests and they may present problems such
as staining or objectionable odor. We sell some repellents that are
composed of non toxic food ingredients. You will not find us
misrepresenting pesticides as non toxic. We think it's important to be
honest.
Keep in mind that organic pesticide products may be
toxic as well as synthetic products. Even naturally derived products can be
deadly. Boric Acid is derived from a mineral, boron, but a teaspoon of
boric acid will kill an infant. Rotenone, a botanical insecticide, is
toxic to fish and is suspected of being involved in human disease.
Handling and Application of Products
Any pesticide, whether it is very toxic, moderately
toxic or only slightly toxic, requires attention to its potential for harm as
well as its ability to perform its intended function. Any pesticide
including Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, etc., needs to be
applied according to label recommendations. If it is a concentrate,
use 1/2 oz if that is what's called for. We still find people that believe
if 1/2 oz is good, then 1 oz is better. Logically, you can't make
something more dead by doubling the dosage, but you do double the risk of harm
to someone or thing else.
Pesticides need to be stored careful, especially where
there are children or pets in a household. However, pesticides, in many
respects, are not much different than other household products such as ammonia,
bleach, salt, cleaning solvent, etc. Too much salt, even too much water,
can kill someone. If ammonia and bleach are mixed, the combination can be
deadly. Pesticide are perceived as being more dangerous because
their intended purpose is to cause harm to another organism and because they are
toxic to humans and their pets as well.
A question that comes up frequently, is how one can
spray insecticides into areas that will hold food. It's actually quite
simple: the spray is allowed to dry before food is returned to that area,
food products are almost always in containers and the bottom of dishes don't
contact food directly. Also, sprays are typically applied to corners which
minimizes contact to unintended items.
Generally, pesticides need to be applied as efficiently
as possible. Use the correct dosage, direct the spray only to the areas
that need it and don't drench a surface: if it's wet, it's been treated.
Pesticide liquids applied to lawn areas need to be allowed to dry before
children or pets are permitted to contact the treated areas. Some granular
insecticides need to be watered into the ground so that they are not hazardous
to non target organisms.
Our Emphasis is on Safety, Too
We want you to live. If you live, you can
continue to visit our web site and perhaps buy products from us. It's in
our interest to keep you alive and well. We don't fully understand why
some people believe that pesticides can't fit into our lives when used in a safe
manner. Yes, pesticides can harm us, but pesticides are necessary to
control pests which harbor serious disease, that can harm us or that can do millions of dollars of damage to our food supply.
The Bug Clinic is not selling pesticides for use on such
a grand scale, but to everyone that contacts us for help, our solutions are very
important. We will always try to point our customers to the most
conservative and least toxic solutions where possible. We even tell people
not to use pesticides in some cases. In other cases, we offer truly non
toxic solutions for some pests. It's really in our best interest (and
yours) to do this.
If you have any questions or concerns about anything
that we sell or wish to comment on anything you've found (or have not found)
here, please feel free to write, call or fax to us. E-Mail to drbugclinic@bugclinic.com,
call us toll free between 8 am and 4 pm EST, Monday through Friday at
800-433-1128 or send a fax to us at 845-356-2837. It's been said by many
companies, but we mean it: your call (or letter) is important to
us. We try to answer every letter that comes to us. There is a
living, breathing person running this company and that person is at your
service.
Barry Eldridge, President & CEO
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