[Add-on Services] Building New Opportunities

As staph infections, food-borne illnesses and mold-related health problems grab headlines, some pest management professionals are venturing into new territory: applying antimicrobials to protect clients’ health and safety and increase revenues.

Questions about antimicrobials’ fit in the industry and long-term liability implications continue to hinder their widespread use, but as another product is introduced, some professionals are taking a second look.

One new product is an EPA-registered, USDA-accepted organosilane concentrate called ProShield 5000, which uses mechanical means to prevent the growth of bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae and yeast. Originally developed for the textile industry by IndusCo, the active ingredient forms a positively charged polymer that chemically bonds to surfaces and acts like a bed of microscopic spikes that puncture cell walls of microbes, explained Steve Smith, president of ServiceAccess, which represents the product to the pest management industry. These spikes attract, rupture and kill negatively charged microbes, he said.

“This is the only antimicrobial that has USDA acceptance to be applied to food contact surfaces, so it can be used in food-processing plants,” said Smith, a 20-year Terminix veteran. “A lot of people view an antimicrobial as a sanitizer or disinfectant, but this product classifies as a protectant.” It carries a caution label and is best applied with a fogger or electrostatic sprayer, which provides 10,000 square feet of coverage for 1 gallon of diluted product. Pump sprayers also can be used, achieving 1,500 square feet of coverage per gallon. The antimicrobial lasts 90 days on high-touch surfaces like door knobs and considerably longer on other surfaces, said Smith. “It doesn’t leach off, nor does it dissipate” or contribute to the creation of “super bugs,” he said. It can be applied to porous or nonporous surfaces, from drywall to countertops.

IN THE FIELD. To protect workers against flesh-eating bacteria found in flood-damaged homes, Fischer Environmental Services President Bob Kunst, Mandeville, La., applied the antimicrobial before rehab. “People really don’t want to go in and strip a house without some type of sanitization” being done, he said. He used ProShield 5000 prior to applying a mold and fungi control product, and, to ease liability concerns, developed a contract limiting responsibility to the antimicrobial’s application.

Buzz Termite & Pest Control Owner Ted Brown uses the technology to pretreat custom home crawlspaces, bathrooms, and sink and window areas for mold in Charlotte, N.C. Mold concerns and the desire to alleviate liability are causing builders to request the service, said Brown. His preventive treatment is guaranteed 10 years. “For the custom homes, it’s a good add-on service,” he said.

The antimicrobial also will be used in some new modular homes along the Gulf Coast. It will be applied to the finished home interior and air ducts once the air conditioning is on just prior to occupancy, explained Classic Southern Homes General Manager Phil Foster. He hopes to provide 3,000 modular homes a year in the next five years to replace those destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in coastal Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Terminix Entomologist Eddie Martin has agreed to apply ProShield 5000 to those homes in New Orleans.

Pretreating for mold is good business, said Foster. Many residents lost everything to the hurricanes, he explained. “I’ve done everything I can to make that house as clean, as presentable and as safe as anybody knows how. And, if I have a better home and a better product, I’m ahead of my competition.”
Foster experienced the antimicrobial’s effectiveness first-hand in 2004 after Hurricane Ivan. A new condominium tower he was working on was not yet ready for occupancy and went untreated. “Bingo. I got mold,” recalls Foster. Its treated sister building did not have a problem.

Some see antimicrobials’ potential for preventing the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, athlete’s foot, Influenza A virus and other microbes in residential and commercial accounts. Smith is negotiating with a major retailer for in-store application of ProShield 5000 on countertops, cart handles and areas like restrooms. He says preventing microbial growth fits with IPM programs for schools, locker rooms, government buildings, hospitals and restaurants.

“Schools have pest control companies coming in…all the time so it would not be a large leap to add (microbial maintenance) to that service,” said Brown. “It seems a perfect fit for that market.”

Smith points out ProShield 5000 offers companies an added-value service for real estate inspections, to prevent odors caused by microbial growth. By inspecting and treating properties, professionals are in a position to offer renewals and related services.

Offering an add-on service to prevent microbial growth reinforces pest management professionals as stewards of health and safety, said Smith. “It’s just another weapon for the pest control industry as they try to protect America’s health. This is a natural product to add to their arsenal.”

Kunst said he believes antimicrobials offer exciting potential for IPM, but cautions long-term studies are needed to ease concerns of their efficacy. 

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT magazine.