Eco-Friendly Insect Deadly

Many innovations come from humble beginnings. But when Steven Bessette heard of a man making insecticide out of his bedroom, he understandably didn’t pay much attention, nor envision much of an opportunity. Bessette, an attorney and CPA, was working in Florida in 1992 providing consulting services and reviewing plans for new business ventures.

The young inventor approached Bessette to help put a business plan together. "He was basically making it in his bedroom at the time. He came in and I figured I’d give him 15 minutes, meet him, hurry him out of my office, and say ‘geez I can’t help you,’" Bessette said.

If Bessette’s initial impressions were tepid at best, what happened in that 15-minute meeting would amaze and intrigue him, changing the course of his professional life. Furthermore, the product that resulted from those 15 minutes in 1992 may have a significant impact on the professional pest control market when it’s released this spring in its finished form.

"Basically he came in with a jar of different kinds of bugs (termites, ants and cockroaches) and this white dust insecticide." Much to Bessette’s amazement, the man proceeded to eat the dust and then sprinkle it on top of the bugs.

"Within 15 minutes, I watched all the bugs die," prompting Bessette to form a start-up company, "right then and there." Bessette acquired the intellectual property from the dust’s inventor and set forth on figuring out just exactly what he had stumbled upon.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SENSATION. In 1994, after giving up his legal practice to move to Atlanta and make a serious commitment to his newly formed company, which he called EcoSMART Technologies, Bessette contacted researchers and university scientists to help determine the insecticidal properties of the dust.

"I can tell you that every single researcher I’ve spoken to has approached me with skepticism, and rightfully so, based upon what they’ve seen in the market the last 10 to 15 years," he said. Researchers had grown wary of entrepreneurs touting naturally derived products, as these "natural" products often proved either ineffective or impractical. Add the fact that Bessette claimed the insecticide was so safe it could be eaten, and it’s easy to see why researchers were skeptical.

"We became familiar with them almost by accident," recalls Don Reierson, a respected researcher at the University of California, Riverside. EcoSMART sent Reierson some samples of the product to evaluate. Because they were unsure as to what they had, early on researchers thought EcoSMART’s product was a diatomaceous earth derivative. "We told them the old story, essentially that diatomaceous earth is effective only if it’s applied in the right place and in the right particle size."

Nonetheless, EcoSmart sent Reierson the product for evaluation. Reierson ran a pilot test on the substance and it knocked down cockroaches in about 20 minutes. Such a rapid knockdown is highly irregular for diatomaceous earth, and as a result, Reierson was skeptical.

"I said there’s something wrong here. I called them up and said, ‘You either spiked it knowingly and I don’t appreciate that, or you have a mistake somewhere. You have a contamination problem.’"

EcoSMART had done neither.

After further research and analysis, scientists soon discovered the insecticidal property of the substance they originally pegged as diatomaceous earth came from tree oils that had a natural toxicity to insects. The oils had been added to the substance to give it a natural, fresh scent.

"As it turned out one of the ingredients in the formulation that we couldn’t account for was an aromatic fragrance oil that was used to have the material smell better," Reierson said. Researchers found that when they put a combination of certain fragrance oils together, they could generate high activity against insects. "It really surprised us," Reierson said.

By scrutinizing the various fragrant tree oils, EcoSMART identified that the oils found to kill and repel insects all shared a common molecular structure, which they called Hexa-Hydroxyl.

Hexa-Hydroxyl works by blocking octopamine, an essential neurotransmitter present in insects that regulates movement, behavior and metabolism. Blocking octopamine disrupts basic insect functions, such as its movement, behavior and metabolism, ultimately resulting in death.

Non-insects, however, only have very small traces of octopamine, so active ingredients like Hexa-Hydroxyl are virtually harmless to people, pets, birds and fish.

"Virtually every one of their (EcoSMART’s) materials is sanctioned by the FDA, because it’s used in lipsticks, cosmetics and chewing gum. You wouldn’t think that there would be activity, but there is against insects and virtually little against human beings or mammals," Reierson said. Most of the plant essential oils used in the EcoSMART formulations are also regarded as flavor and fragrance oils and used in many consumer products.

PRODUCT LAUNCH. Having uncovered the secret to the active ingredient’s effectiveness and safety, EcoSMART registered Hexa-Hydroxyl with the EPA and, after several years developing the technology, plans to launch three contact insecticide products this spring. The products will be available through Van Waters & Rogers, with which EcoSMART signed an exclusive distribution agreement.

The initial product launch will include:

• EcoPCO AC: A contact aerosol that, according to EcoSMART, features a rapid knockdown against a broad spectrum of pests, leaves no residues, contains no CFCs, has strong flushing action and contains a fresh scent due to the natural plant oils. Can be used for crack and crevice treatment and volumetric treatment for general pests, general surface treatment for fleas and wood injection treatment for drywood termites.

• EcoPCO Jet: Formulated for immediate knockdown and kill of stinging insects, such as wasps, hornets and yellow jackets. Reaches as far as 15 feet, leaves no visible residue, contains no CFCs and features a fresh scent from the natural plant oils.

• EcoPCO D: Dust formulation with quick knockdown and residual activity against a broad spectrum of insects, non-staining, non-clumping and water-resistant. Can be used as a crack/crevice, void and broadcast treatment for general pests, as well as used in treatments in commercial food handling establishments.

ADDING PERSISTENCE. One of the common drawbacks of naturally derived insecticides is a short residual life, which is why three of EcoSMART’s initial product offerings are contact insecticides.

"It’s relatively short lived. Virtually all of these materials (natural insecticides) don’t last a long time. And that’s an advantage and a disadvantage depending on how you look at it," Reierson said.

EcoSMART officials say they recognize the history of natural insecticides and their traditionally short residual.

"A lot of the flak that natural compounds would catch when they actually hit the market was the fact that they would never be cost competitive, you had to reapply them four times in a month because they are not persistent," Bessette said.

With this knowledge, EcoSMART invested in finding a way to lengthen the effectiveness of their active ingredient.

"We were spending $100,000 and $150,000 just trying to find out how to residualize these technologies."

EcoSMART contracted with several companies including Formulogics to help develop new and longer lasting formulations for the active ingredient. Formulogics is a chemical engineering and product development company that has experience working with some of the industry’s leading manufacturers.

According to Bessette, the research has paid off, and the company has developed new residual formulations, which they are currently registering with the EPA. One formulation they’ve tested is still proving somewhat toxic to insects after five months.

"Probably in the next several months we will come out with an unscented contact aerosol. We will begin conducting field testing of the new residual formulations during the summer of 1999 and hope to introduce them at the NPCA convention in October," Bessette said.

MARKET POTENTIAL. While a naturally derived insecticide composed of plant oils may be met with initial skepticism from the professional pest control industry, Reierson is optimistic about the new insecticide technology.

"There is a lot of work to be done, but of all the materials we’ve looked at in the last decade, in terms of new materials, this has the greatest potential, especially in terms of pest management in the urban area. Most pest control operators are looking for low toxicity and high effectiveness. This may fill the bill in the short term and long term," Reierson said.

EcoSMART remains conservative in making predictions for the product’s impact on the market. "We are not going out there and boasting to the world about being a cure-all, we’re just trying to develop our own little niche in the market and as we get more data and feedback we’ll start to expand," Bessette says.

The rate and size of that expansion will be determined by the effectiveness of the products in the field. And only time will tell if the product performs as well in the field as it does in the lab. But if the product lives up to its initial billing — a natural, environmentally safe insecticide with excellent activity and little-to-no mammalian toxicity — it may indeed gobble up a respectable chunk of market share. As Bessette puts it, "We’re looking for big things in ’99 and in the year 2000."

ECO-Friendly Marketing
One of the major selling points of EcoSMART’s product line may prove to be its appeal to environmentally sensitive customers. The fact that the product is naturally occurring has been the focus of the company’s early promotions, which prominently feature images of lush natural settings and vibrant green leaves. For example, the company’s logo is a globe, shrouded by a leaf.

"One of the things folks always say to us is that this (environmental sensitivity) is where the market is headed, this is where the research effort is. Everybody understands that the regulatory requirements are pushing people into another direction," says Steven Bessette, EcoSMART’s executive vice president.

David Murphy, former marketing director of Orkin Pest Control, who joined EcoSMART in 1997 and serves as general manager of the professional pest control division, says the company plans to develop materials that will help PCOs promote the environmentally friendly nature of the products.

"One of the things we have in the hopper is once we get more formulations, where a PCO could use our complete line inside and out for a true eco-service, is to provide them with a marketing support program. We would provide them with literature that they could provide to the homeowner, they could use our logo on their uniforms and trucks and link into our web site," Murphy said.

"I think a lot of PCOs are hearing concerns from their customers about the safety of what is being put down, and this is a way for them to use a brochure to leave behind and say, ‘Hey, these are plant essential oils that you can find in your backyard.’ The octopamine story is the key to explaining how our products can be toxic to insects but not to mammals," Murphy said.

The trend towards eco-marketing is one that has been building for a number of years and is quickly become more prevalent in a variety of industries. And as more and more research goes into developing "environmentally safe" products, the presence of eco-marketing will be a strong one in pest control.

As the organophosphates and carbamates have come under increasing pressure from the environmental community and as homeowners have become more aware of environmental issues , marketing of pest control services have shifted accordingly. Naturally derived product lines like that of EcoSMART may aid PCOs in allaying customers’ concerns over pesticide use and provide a vehicle for PCOs looking to carve out a niche by positioning themselves as eco-friendly companies.