TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: Pesticide Application Still A Risky Business

Pesticide application is still a risky business no matter how low the concentration is, what the active ingredient is, what the formulation is, how you apply it and how careful you are.

Product manufacturers have gone to great lengths to produce products that pose minimal risks to our customers, their children, their pets and the environment. They have manufactured products that can be applied at unbelievably low concentrations, e.g., 0.005 percent, and better yet, they work.

The organophosphate and carbamate insecticides that had been the mainstay of the industry have been rapidly displaced by pyrethroids. The story doesn’t end there, however. Now we have new and novel active ingredients that are capturing a significant share of the market currently held by the pyrethroids. Not surprisingly, they work.

CONSIDER ALL OPTIONS. I am a strong advocate of baits, but they are not the only answer and in some applications they are ineffective, slow and do not provide the customer with immediate satisfaction. One of their strongest selling points has been reduced risk. But there are very good liquid and dust products that can be applied at much lower concentrations than baits and are less persistent in the structural environment.

Regardless of how careful service technicians are, pesticide incidents do occur. The easiest problems to address are spills and contaminated surfaces that can be readily cleaned. Human and pet exposures, while of great concern, typically are easily resolved through decontamination and medical treatment. The most difficult pesticide incidents to resolve are perceived exposures — when fear and unreasonable thinking win out over rational thoughts.

Sometimes the most innocuous treatment can create concern. Recently, a technician was treating an office space for ants. The ants were trailing from the floor, across a desk, up and around the edge of a small fish aquarium in a woman’s office.

Gel bait was applied in the office area where the ants were trailing, including along the edge of the fish tank. Two days later an urgent call was received from the office manager. Two days after the application several fish were found dead in the tank and the woman working at the desk became extremely concerned about the pesticides that had been applied in her office.

As it turned out the woman was seven months pregnant and had miscarried during her previous pregnancy. Upon seeing dead fish in the tank she became extremely concerned that the product used would affect her and her fetus.

She wanted to take a copy of the product label and MSDS to her obstetrician that afternoon. I provided her with my telephone number and offered to have the doctor call me if he had any questions about the product and its application. Nothing more came of the situation, and, hopefully, she had a healthy baby.

It is uncertain what killed the fish since no direct contamination of the water occurred. It may have been mere coincidence or the ants may have consumed the gel bait, died and fell into the fish tank. The label on the gel bait did indicate that the product was highly toxic to fish. Thus, the fish may have died as a result of eating the ants.

Another recent incident involved miscommunication between a building engineer and a service technician. The engineer requested that an office area be treated without notifying the tenant. The service technician proceeded to make the application and did not contact the tenant prior to application. The tenant subsequently claimed that she was unknowingly exposed to a pesticide.

RULES TO REMEMBER. When using pesticides, one can never be too careful. Incidents do occur, and how they are handled often determines the outcome of the situation. Sticking one’s head in the sand and praying that misapplications and perceived exposures will go away is foolhardy.

The following suggestions may help to prevent and/or resolve these situations:

• Never apply a liquid, aerosol, dust (or even bait?) pesticide formulation in an occupied space.

• When using aerosol formulations, ensure that ventilation systems are shut down, that no one reenters the treated area for two hours or other time specified by the label, that aquariums are covered and aerators are turned off.

• If the customer expresses any concerns about pesticides, rethink what you are about to do.

• Read the service ticket; occasionally customers insist that certain products not be used in their home or office.

• Make sure that you are servicing the correct house or office area.

• Document pesticide applications (what, when, where and how much).

• Explain to the customer, manager, area occupant, etc., what product you are using, how it will be applied and any special precautions.

• Immediately report incidents to a supervisor/manager/owner.

• Respond to customer concerns respectfully and within a timely fashion.

The author is technical director of American Pest Management, Takoma Park, Md. He can be reached at 301/891-2600 or via e-mail at rkramer@pctonline.com.