January News

DIAZINON VOLUNTARILY PHASED OUT

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In December the Environmental Protection Agency and Syngenta announced a voluntary phase out of diazinon, one of the 39 organophosphates (OPs) reviewed under the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA).

Syngenta, the pesticide’s chief manufacturer, agreed to gradually phase the product out over the next four years. Despite the media’s harsh coverage of the event, the industry’s reaction to the phase out was mild.

"Except for its low price, OPs are really outdated pest management tools," said Joe Tallon, owner, Tallon Termite and Pest Control Inc. "There are plenty of pesticides and control practices that no one is against that can be done."

Al Roden, owner, Enviroco Pest Control, Victoria, Texas, said he wasn’t upset about the phase out because he doesn’t depend on the pesticide in his business. "However, my concern is that they’ll begin looking at other pesticides to ban when they run out of OPs," he said.

"It boils down to the fact that organophosphates have been important for many years and now PCOs will have one less tool in their toolboxes to do their work," said Fred Langley, manager of state government operations for Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE).

Although Langley said he doesn’t know if this phase out is part of a trend of more to come, "It does send a message to manufacturers that EPA is making decisions regarding pesticides before all the scientific data is in place."

In an official statement, Syngenta said that it was an economic, not a safety, decision to end diazinon sales and the product "poses no health threat with normal application." Both EPA and Syngenta agreed that diazinon would continue to be used for commercial crop purposes.

Tallon agrees with Syngenta. "Any product has the potential to cause harm if misused," he said. "I doubt any organophosphate would be banned at all if they were used correctly all the time by trained individuals."

Langley said PCOs may increase their use of pyrethroids as organophosphates continue to be phased out. "However, resistance build-up is a problem with any pest control product. So continuous effective control will be more difficult for PCOs now because they have fewer product choices," he said.

Although Langley said it is still too early to gauge an official reaction from the industry, the phase out doesn’t seem to have fazed PCOs like Tallon, who already uses a variety of products for insect control at his business.

"People have been trying to ‘take away’ pesticides since the 1960s and no pest control company has gone out of business because of a loss of a pesticide," said Tallon. "There are always replacements that work well, even if they do cost more."

The following is a list of new or updated industry Web sites. E-mail jdorsch@pctonline.com with new sites.

CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Disease —www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/index.htm

EPA documents about Diazinon – www.epa.gov/pesticides/op/diazinon.htm

LIPCA Insurance Services – www.lipca.com

Waterbury Companies – www.cbproproducts.com

Are you a PCO who does IPM in schools? If so, let us know! PCT is working to provide coverage of this important topic but we need help from you! Call PCT’s Jodi Dorsch at 800/456-0707 or e-mail her at jdorsch@pctonline.com with a description of your services. Your company could be featured in an upcoming issue of PCT!

Cleveland — Service Technician magazine and Syngenta (formerly known as Zeneca Professional Products) recently recognized three pest professionals as 2000 Technicians of the Year.

This year’s winners were: Residential Technician Peter Bopp, Arrow Exterminating Co., Lyn-brook, N.Y.; Commercial Technician Thomas Horton, International Exterminator, Co., Elk Grove Village, Ill.; and Termite Technician Steve Adkins, Western Exterminator Co., Santa Maria, Calif.

Bopp is a 10-year industry veteran whose list of accomplishments includes being named Arrow Exterminating Co.’s Technician of the Year three times.

Horton, who has been with International Exterminator Co. for 26 years, has made a name for himself by specializing in servicing highly sensitive accounts.

Adkins, a 7-year industry veteran, has been the leading sales producer for Western Exterminator for the last four years.

The Service Technician Technician of the Year Awards is the industry’s only national awards competition recognizing the in-dustry’s service personnel.

To nominate a technician for the 2001 Technician of the Year Awards, please contact Brad Harbison at 800/456-0707 or at bharbison@pctonline.com.

Mississippi State, Miss. — The Association of Structural Pest Control Regulatory Officials (ASPCRO) has formed a new committee to review preventive treatments for termites on new structures to better respond to the needs of the pest control industry, regulatory agencies and the general public.

ASPCRO President Jim Haskins said the committee will examine current regulatory efforts on preconstruction termite pretreatment and recommend any changes in procedures to ensure protection procedures are adequate.

"The ultimate goal of pretreatment is to protect the structure from the invasion of subterranean termites," Haskins said. "Regulators and pest control operators realize there have been pretreatment problems for a long time, but there has never been a committee appointed by ASPCRO to investigate. We now have a mechanism in place to do this."

Jerry Davis of the Arizona Department of Agriculture will serve as committee chairman. Other committee members include Wayne Gale of the Florida Department of Agriculture, David Newbill of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Todd Thompson of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Lanier James, owner, James Pest Management in Tennessee.

The scope of the committee will include chemical barrier treatments, monitoring/baiting systems, wood treatments, exclusionary procedures and combinations of these procedures.

Haskins said he hopes the diversity of the committee will encourage the development of new and cutting-edge ideas that will assist the pest control industry and the regulatory community in affording adequate protection against termites to consumers.

INDIANAPOLIS — Dow AgroSciences LLC and Cheminova A/S, a Lemvig, Denmark-based company that produces and markets specialty chemicals, have agreed to form a 50:50 joint venture to register and market a premium pyrethroid insecticide. The new Zurich-based company, Pytech Chemicals GmbH, will develop products with superior efficacy at lower application rates than any pyrethroid insecticide available today, the new company says. The new insecticide will be introduced initially in agricultural row crops and will target chewing and sucking insects, a market that accounts for US $1.5 billion worldwide sales of pyrethroids each year.

Products developed by Pytech Chemicals are expected to be introduced in the United States in 2003 for agricultural pest control, with worldwide distribution occurring in 2004. It has not been decided if the new insecticide eventually will be manufactured for specialty markets such as structural pest control.

"Pytech Chemicals provides significant strategic and commercial value by introducing a product that is substantially more active than other pyrethroid insecticides," said Stan Howell, global leader for insect and disease management, Dow AgroSciences. "By adding a world-class pyrethroid to our stable of leading insecticides, chlorpyrifos and spinosad, Dow AgroSciences will be able to offer customers an expanded portfolio of products with different modes of action."

Bjorn Albinus, managing director, Cheminova A/S, said the joint venture will facilitate expansion of Cheminova’s product offerings.

Cleveland — Joseph B. White, co-founder of Central Exterminating Co., Cleveland, Ohio, passed away in November. He was 90 years old.

White and his brother-in-law Joe Gross founded Central in 1946. The service grew throughout the years and included branch offices in Elyria, Sandusky, Fremont and Wooster, Ohio, employing more than 40 technicians.

White is survived by his wife, Ruth; and daughters Judy Yanover of San Rafael, Calif.; and Nina Goldstein of Chicago.

Bakersfield, Calif. — Jim Clark, co-founder of Clark Pest Control, Bakersfield, Calif., and a 1999 PCT/Syngenta Leadership Award Winner, passed away Nov. 2. Clark was a past president of Pest Control Operators of California and served on the California Structural Pest Control Board. He was the father of five children, three of whom are active in the business.

Clark founded his pest control business in 1940 with his friend, Charlie Delk. They worked under the mission statement, "Let your work speak for itself," and made sure education and service were the employees’ top priority. The business eventually grew to four offices in Southern California and 17 offices in Northern California, which made it one of the largest pest control operations in the state, employing more than 900 people.

Western Announces New Management Team
irvine, calif. —Western Exterminator Company Co-Owner and Chairman of the Board John Anderson announced a series of management enhancements at the board of directors meeting in December. As the company enters its 80th year of providing pest control services, the following appointments are designed to bring continued success, the company says.

After 20 years with Western, Michael Katz has been promoted from vice president and general manager to president. He replaces long-term president, Roy Ashton, who will remain as an active member of the board and proactive liaison to the company’s 31 service centers throughout California, Arizona and Nevada.

Debbie Byrne, former vice president and controller, became vice president and general manager after 20 years with the company. Thomas Anfora, a 26-year veteran of the company, was promoted from commercial division manager to assistant general manager. Mike Lawton continues as vice president, sales and marketing.

Baton Rouge, La. — LIPCA Insurance Services, a insurer of pest control companies nationwide, announces the launch of a "new" Web site at its current address, www.lipca.com. The Web site has new graphics, insurance inquiry information and applications, and insured-only services and online documents.

New features of the site include a humorous, animated, multi-media introduction; personalized e-mail addresses for all staff; industry-related links; and online insurance quote submission forms. PCOs and lawn care professionals can find information about LIPCA and the components of its unique, comprehensive insurance coverage tailored for their businesses.

The site also contains a database of state pest control regulations. The State Regulations Database features a state-lookup function and a convenient question and answer format. This informational resource, available to all visitors to the Web site, allows comparison of laws and regulations across state lines and downloadable reporting forms required by specific state regulation. Links to Web sites of regulatory bodies, where available and/or applicable, are also included.

LANHAM, Md. — The Entomological Society of America (ESA) offers immediate free web access to many of its online journal articles, the association reports. An online PDF file, or e-print, is provided for individual articles in the Society’s four journals: Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Environmental Entomology, Journal of Economic Entomology and Journal of Medical Entomology.

E-prints, which are purchased by authors, are posted with that issue’s table of contents on the ESA Web site located at www.entsoc.org. Access is free, and unlimited copies of the PDF files can be downloaded. To encourage the ease and speed of readers’ access to journal articles, e-prints are priced at 25 percent less than the price of 100 hard-copy reprints.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) will require manufacturers and sellers of devices designed to combat wood-destroying structural pests to show that the products are safe and effective for use in California, the department recently announced.

DPR has begun accepting applications to register structural pest control devices marketed to control wood-destroying insects. Such devices typically use heat, microwave or electrical treatments. DPR registration will require applicants to provide efficacy and safety data to protect the public, workers and the environment. Registration requirements take effect on July 1, 2001. The law gives DPR authority to seek civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation for any unregistered device sold, possessed or used after that date.

Registration applies to devices intended to control termites, carpenter ants, powder post beetles and other wood destroying pests. Exempted are devices that target decay-causing fungi, cockroaches and other household and vertebrate pests, including mice and rats.

Philadelphia — Barbara Hunter of Western Industries Inc. was presented the award by Andres Bianchi, Ambassador of Chile, at the 12th Annual Meeting of the Chilean and American Chamber of Commerce (CACC), held in November.

The Ambassador spoke of Hunter’s dedication to "foster increased and improved commercial trade relations between the Republic of Chile and the Greater Philadelphia region." Hunter’s commitment to the Chilean Fruit industry has spanned more than 20 years. "My goal, then and now," she said, "has been to carry out the philosophy of this company, which is that good business is based on building good relationships, trying to understand the needs of our clients, and supporting the community that supports those clients."

Providing quarantine treatments to meet USDA U.S. entry requirements is only part of the specialized pest control solutions to homes and businesses that Western Industries Inc. has been providing since 1927. Western is headquartered Parsippany, N.J.