Reduced-Risk Pest Management — Many Options

The industry has talked about IPM for nearly 25 years and many companies have made strides in using the principles of IPM. Yet there are still hundreds of companies who embrace the “spray-and-pray” mentality. In today’s environment the spray jockey is a dinosaur. Companies will experience extreme difficulty in the years ahead if they attempt to continue operating “spray companies.”

Their major problem will be the unavailability of pesticide products as a result of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). Despite all of the legislative rhetoric, the decisions about registrations will ultimately rest with the manufacturers. Since manufacturers are driven by the bottom line as well as the perspectives of their stockholders, it is unlikely that minor uses of their products will be at the top of their list.

In addition, there is and will be pressure from other environmental groups to reduce and even eliminate the use of several products such as DDVP, most other organophosphates, methyl bromide and others. And the Environmental Protection Agency, through the re-registration process, will eliminate other products via voluntary manufacturer cancellations or regulatory actions.

Regardless of who is responsible for these changes, the fact is we will have fewer products to work with in the future. The time to address the problem is now. And the use of reduced-risk pest management strategies is the best way to do it.

THE NPCA SLOGAN. The NPCA adopted the slogan “Guardians of Your Environment” almost six years ago, and the motto of the association was changed to “Protectors of Food, Property, Health and Your Environment.” It amazes me that after thousands of companies joined the association through the state joint-membership program, a large number of companies are still grappling with these concepts. The slogan “Guardians of Your Environment” can be interpreted in two ways. First, as the protection of the environment in which customers live, work and play from the devastating effects of pests on health, property and food. And secondly, the management of pests while minimizing effects of pest management services, particularly pesticide applications, on human health and the environment.

Pest management offers us a plethora of options. Our challenge is to pick and choose the right combination of techniques and products to achieve the customer’s pest management objectives while, at the same time, minimizing our impact on the environment.

The most important step is determining if, in fact, there is a pest problem. The type of pest, size of the population, extent of the infestation, source of the problem and contributing factors should be determined. Then a pest management plan should be developed which, depending on the nature of the problem, could require as little as a few minutes or as long as several days. In my opinion the first options to consider are cultural and mechanical approaches, such as sanitation, education, source reduction, mechanical and physical control measures.

REDUCED-RISK STRATEGIES. It’s our overuse (often a misperception) of pesticides which generates concern about what we do as an industry and garners all of the attention within discussions of reduced-risk pest management. This is due to the tendency of uninformed individuals to generalize about classes of products, formulate their opinions based on acute toxicity, and disregard sound scientific studies in favor of anecdotal information.

Nonetheless, the issue of pesticide use must be addressed. While toxicity can be a major factor in the hazard associated with a pesticide, after almost 35 years of working with pesticides, the direction has been toward less toxic, less residual and equally efficacious products. While toxicity is a consideration, there are many factors to consider in selection of a product for use in a pest management plan.

Manufacturers can do little about an active ingredient’s acute toxicity; however, they typically reduce the risk associated with their products through formulation, application rates and the concentration of the diluted products. Today we have products being applied at the incredibly low rates of 0.015% and 0.03%. Formulation chemistry has eliminated most of the ozone-depleting substances from aerosols and created more persistent but less easily absorbed microencapsulated formulations.

PERCEPTION IS REALITY. We can reduce the risk of pesticide use by following the label directions. Risk can also be significantly reduced by carefully considering the time and site of application. Liquid and aerosol products should never be applied when people other than pest management personnel are in the area. This eliminates the possibility of exposure, but more importantly the perception of exposure. Applying products as directed by the label and limiting their application to areas of pest activity further reduces risk and increases the likelihood of solving the pest management problem.

Finally there is the range of customer attitudes from extreme concern over pesticide use to the no-holds-barred-spray-until-they-drop philosophy. It is important to address concerns but don’t let them dictate pest management strategies, particularly pesticide applications. We are the professionals and should conduct ourselves accordingly. Every pest management problem is different and there are no cookbook solutions. Nevertheless, reduced-risk pest management is achievable and it is the only direction for the industry to go.

Dr. Richard Kramer is president of Innovative Pest Management, 18100 Darnell Drive, Olney MD 20832, 301/570-7138.