I'm Boruch Fishman and welcome to another episode of Day in the Life of Dovid Davis Pest Specialist," Today Dovid, a knowledgeableBaltimore pest control technician will be sharing with us tips about how a homeowner can select a really good anti-roach over-the counter-pesticide. If you listen closely, you're going to get the real scoop about what's going on in cans of roach spray that are available on the market andג€¦how you can determine which ones will help you. And now let's join the interview in progress.

Boruch: So listen to this, here's the situation, at two different times I purchased two different cockroach sprays. I'm a homeowner, I'm not specially knowledgeable about pest sprays, I just went to two separate stores and asked at each place for the best pesticide against roaches that they had in the shop. At the first store I purchased a can of roach spray for about 6-8 dollars. The ingredients included 1.1% propoxur, .05% tetrametrin, 1% piperonylbutoxide, and .320% MGX. The other store had roach spray for about 8 dollars. Th spray had only .1% of MGX as opposed to .32% and it didn't have the tetramethrin, but it had .03% of deltramethrin and .266% of cypromethrin. So I shopped at both stores and then I decided to purchase the roach spray at the first store. It was a bit less money, but it had greater content of the MGX, and it had much greater content of the piperyonylbutoxide. So I took the roach spray home and tried it out. It made a horrible smell, and wherever I sprayed it it made the coackroaches run out from their hiding place to another. But unless I made a direct hit on a roach it didn't kill them, it didn't kill a single one of them.

Dovid: Okay, lets do the interview.

Boruch Huh?

Dovid: Let's do the interview.

Boruch: This is the interview. I'm asking you the question and you'll provide the answer. So I went out and purchased the other product. I took it home and sprayed it. It didn't have any smell but it started killing the roaches right away. They just started dropping over dead, and not just when I sprayed it, but all that day and the next day and the next. Whenever the roaches walked through the areas I sprayed on they died. And sometimes it took time for them to die but they seemed to walk out into the open and die, until I had dead roaches lying all over the place.

So the question is, how does a homeowner know which of these roach sprays is effective and which one of them is essentially no better than a can of smelly water?

Dovid: You can't, there's no way to tell

Boruch: Okay, well let me ask you this. In retrospect, the one with Cypermethrin and Deltamethrin did the job, whereas the one with Tetramethrin didn't.

Dovid: Tetramethrin is what we usually use for ants and smaller insects.

Boruch: Is that right? Okay so you use Tetramethrin for ants and here they are selling it as a roach pesticide.

Dovid: All these sprays do work, the question is what is your expectation. If you are a homeowner who seeks an insecticide that he can spray on roaches and they will die, there are chemicals that will do that. That is probably the least favorable way of doing pest control, Why? Because if you spray a bug and it dies, that is the only bug that is exposed. You do want to kill the bugs that are exposed, but you want to get to the nest and the colony, which is not exposed. So what you want to do is have a product that is delayed reaction, so that the bugs will interface with it and then bring it back to the colony, spread it around, and thereby kill all of the colony, which you don't know where it is.

Boruch: The thing is, the spray that works for me, it does both. It killed a number of the roaches immediately, but it also works as a delayed reaction type spray. I was away for 10 days, after spraying my apartment. When I came back, there were dead roaches everywhere. But with the other spray, that gave off the odor that never happened. There wasn't a single time that it gave a delayed reaction kill.

Dovid: Well what you may have seen was that over time there were less roaches.

Boruch: I didn't

Or it may be that the active ingredient takes longer, or it may be that you didn't put the chemical where the roaches are going to get it.

Boruch: No, I put the spray in the same places as the other one. Now with the first spray, that had the Tetramethrin, which you say works really good on

Dovid: Wait a minute; let me explain how pesticides work. Pesticides are chemicals in a water base. After spraying, the water evaporates leaving behind the pesticide chemicals, which have adhered to various surfaces. When the roaches subsequently come in contact with the active ingredient, how they die will depend upon how they came in contact with the ingredient, and the extent of it.

Dovid: There's no such thing as a product on the market in the pesticide world that doesn't work, they just work differently.

Cypermethrin - an odorless insecticide effective against a wide range of ants, roaches and insects.

Boruch: Okay, let me ask you what do you know about Cypermethrin?

Dovid: I use it every day.

Boruch: First let me tell the listeners that I live in a foreign country that may have different restrictions about use of insecticides. But on the can it says this is a ג€œprofessional strength spray." Can non pest control specialists use Cypermethrin in the United States?

Dovid: At some strength Cypermethrin is available to the public. The question would be professionally are you using a 0.5% or are you using a 1.5%. It's a matter of how much insecticide you are using. Cypermethrin is a very good product and it's just a matter of what strength is available for the public to use.

Boruch: We're using .26%

Dovid: What I'm saying is that as a product it is very good. Now how it gets to the consumer is a different question. However, keep in mind there is no company that's going to sell a product that doesn't have some effect on the target, on the pest. No company is going to produce a product that the client is going to abuse. So the product I am going to buy is going to be at a strength that requires skill and expertise to use it. So some of the consumer pesticides, you could take a bath in it and nothing would happen, I guarantee it. Because they're not going to put any chemical in the hands of a public who are not going to read the label and will abuse it.

Boruch: Okay, so you're saying that at certain strength Cypermethrin is a professional strength chemical.

Dovid: Umhuh. Every chemical you have named is in my arsenal, and I have used it at one time or another.

Boruch: Do you use Cypermethrin at .26%?

Dovid: Every chemical you have named is in my tank.

Boruch: What about Deltamethrin?

Dovid: I'll tell what these chemicals are. If you go back 20 years they had a product called Duraspan. They took Duraspan off the market about 5, 6, or 7 years ago. Duraspan was a product that was an offshoot of an excellent product that was taken off the market before Duraspan. Once they took that very good product off the market they had Duraspan, and once they took Duraspan off the market they came up with all these other products Tetramethrin, Cypermethrin and Deltamethrin, which are little Duraspans. Maybe some of them will have a little bit of Pyrethrium in it, a little bit of the real stuff; but all these things are synthetic Duraspan products. Instead of buying Duraspan at 10%, you're buying products like these at .1%, a lot different. They made it a lot weaker so they could control it.

Boruch: Right.

Boruch: Okay, now let me ask you, the Propoxur, what does that do?

Dovid: That's another insecticide, getting into the petroleum distillates. It's of the family of insecticides in the carbamate family, and its known for its quick knockdown effect. So by adding propoxur to longer acting insecticides you get both an immediate kill and a long-term kill. Regarding the odor, it has nothing to do with the strength of the product. I can show you a strong pesticide that is odorless, and a weak pesticide that has a strong odor.

Boruch: Going back to the insecticide with the smell, the four ingredients were Propoxur, Tetramethrin, piperonyl butoxide, and MGX. Of those four ingredients, which one was responsible for the smell.

Dovid:. Actually, all these products are oil based, and oil has a smell. So when they want to make an odorless product, they kept the oil based products out as much as possible. The oil, being a carrier, but it also has a smell to it. The oil also creates the gas which contributes to the ability of the pesticides to be sprayed. And that's why on some of these products there is so little pesticide and so much inert ingredient that carries the product and allows it to be sprayed. I can actually make changes to the pesticide to take out the odor. I went to one ladies house who had young children around. I didn't want to spread a noxious smell around the rooms so I added a tiny bit of baby oil to the spray Afterwards she said, ג€œOh," what did you put in the spray it smells like a baby's room.

Boruch: My experience was that the spray that has the smell did absolutely nothing.

David: One other thing to keep in mind is that not all products on the market work speedily. There is a popular product called Roach Kill. And the active ingredient in Roach Kill is boric acid. And there a million campaigns out there to sell Roach Kill. But what's the problem? It takes three weeks of constant exposure before boric acid will kill a single roach. In the professional world, if I take three weeks to kill the roaches I'm fired, done deal. You want an insecticide that will make a roach flip on its back and die immediately. They don't make those type of sprays anymore, they've taken them off the market.

So do people use Boric acid? Yes. They buy it and use it, and have white Boric acid powder sprinkled all over their house and it takes three weeks to kill the roaches. But as a professional, am I going to use it? No. My clients want their roaches dead in three days not three weeks.

Boruch: We have to end the interview at this point because of time considerations, but I have some final comments. Dovid is a professional, so he's not going to come out and directly criticize anyone in his industry. But what he did tell us was that in least one roach spray that I found on the market has a killing ingredient that is effective against ants, and their touting it as a treatment for roaches. Other ingredients that are being added in are abrasive chemicals that make the roaches run from one place to another, but they are not killing them.

Now Dovid also noted that just because a spray smells bad to us doesn't mean it works. The real killing agents are odorless.

The second point I want to make is that there are sprays on the market that really work. The difference between the two sprays that I used was like night and day. I live in another country, and I don't know if you can get sprays at the strength that I used, when you're shopping over the counter, but if you can look for a spray that has at least .26% Cypermethrin or at least .030% or more Deltamethrin.

Now third, don't be fooled by the fact that one spray has more of one ingredient than another. The spray I used that didn't work had more Piperonyl butoxide and more MGX then the spray that worked. But these are obviously not the killing agents.

Fourth, once you find a spray that works stick with it. Don't think it's your imagination or that you will use another spray the next time and it will be just as effective. Not necessarily true!

Well, that wraps it up for another episode of ג€œDay in the Life of Dovid Davis Pest Specialist." Folks, I'm Boruch Fishman, have a pest free day.

Hi this is Boruch Fishman and welcome to another episode of "Day in the Life of Dovid Davis Pest Specialist," we've got Dovid on the line, and today we're going to be asking Dovid about how the householder can evaluate roach sprays and pest sprays that are on the market. We're going to ask Dovid to tell us what we should look for, and how the sprays work. Specifically,  yesterday I went out and purchased a typical roach spray that you might find on the market, and I am going to ask Dovid about the chemicals in this spray.

Boruch: How you doing Dovid?

Dovid: I'm fine thank-you Boruch.

Boruch: Dovid, the first chemical listed in this roach spray is Propoxur. How good is that chemical?

Dovid: Let's step away from the brink for a minute. If you're going to be buying a spray to eradicate pests you're going to be buying a pesticide or you're going to be buying an insecticide. So if you're going to go to the counter and ask someone you don't want to go to the counter and say "Where's the stuff for insects?" because that in itself will identify you as not being knowledgeable about the correct terminology.  So the correct terminology you want to buy some insecticide. Well now that means that your target pest you are trying to eradicate is an insect, you use an insecticide,if its a pest, you use a pesticide, if its a rodent you use a rodenticide.

So what I always say to do, is to look at the inert and active ingredients in the product. The inert and active ingredients will tell you what percentage of the product is the active ingredient and which percentage is, in fact,  filler.  Now, there are many, many different pesticides on the market, today, most of which are good, and the percentage of the spray which is active will tell you how thoroughly and how quickly you will have your eradication. Also, you should be sure to read the label on the container because that's going to give you all the precautions that you must adhere to. That's for your own personal safety.  Okay, so what's your first question Boruch.  

Boruch: This particular spray has 1.1 % propoxur. Is that a good chemical and a good concentration?

Dovid: It is an insecticide and it is a good product. Let's take a look at the whole label. It's going to give us a list of the active ingredients and the inert ingredients.

Boruch:  .05% is Tetrametrin,  .1% is piperonyl butoxide,  and .320% is MGK 264.

Dovid: So those are the active ingredients. What's the balance?

Boruch: I guess everything else or approximately 98.43% is filler.

Dovid: More than 98% of what you've just bought is filler and less than 2% is active ingredients. Now of the three ingredients you've read out, one is a good killing agent, and the other two are flushing agents. If you flush that Propoxur into a particular hole, it's going to flush out whatever is in there. That's a very burning irritating insecticide, insects hate it, it usually gets them running.  It gets them out of those nocks and crannies they love to inhabit, and gets them into the area where they can be quickly eradicated with some of the other properties. Now insecticides that you are going to buy will have some level of residual, (meaning, chemicals that adhere to the ground and kill insects that walk on that area even days or weeks later), unless you are buying an aerosol.  If it's an aerosol, there's generally no residual to an aerosol because they are generally 99.5% inert gases, just to propel it to come out. But this liquid product has some resilience to it so there will be some residual, it's a good product.

Boruch: Okay, that's good to know. 

Special Offer: Dovid is offering a special early summer $99.00 insect treatment special. If you read about it here, click on this link and contact Dovid.  

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Hello, this is Boruch Fishman and welcome to another episode of "Day in the Life of Dovid Davis Pest Specialist. Here we are in late June, right now, which as you all know is the insect season, and today we're going to be talking to Dovid about general pesticide treatment of insects.

Boruch: S Dovid, we were chatting a little before the start of the interview and you were telling me that there's a general pesticide treatment that you use when you're called to the house to treat insect infestations. You want to explain to me first which insects you are treating, and how does the treatment work.

Dovid: Generally you want to keep in mind that the suffix "icide" means to kill, and so whether you're primarily talking about an insecticide or pesticide the mode of action is basically the same, meaning you're going to be using what is most commonly known as an emulsifier concentrate, an EC, which you're going to be mixing with water, usually one ounce of insecticide to a gallon of water. And you're going to be applying that in a course spray, which is a fan spray, which gives you a very wide berth, or pinpoint application, which is a very small thin stream. And basically, any insect that crawls through or around that particular barrier will pick up the insecticide on its legs, on its sides, and in the pores of their feet; and it will be absorbed into their skeleton and it will kill them. 

Normally, a general insecticide is going to be almost odorless. It will be effective against spiders, ants, centipedes, stink bugs, crickets, millipedes, bedbugs, and basically all the insects that are crawling.  Now, with some of these insects you want to be more specific about where you make your application. If you are offering preventative service, than you want to apply insecticides heavily on the outside of the building, the outside exterior of the building. If you are going to be doing something that's targeted to an active German cockroach infestation, for example, than you want to apply that to the inside of the building, inside your cabinets, inside your drawers, and places like that.

Now, this is the first day of summer, and a lot of these insects will be escaping the warm weather of summer and they will tend to come in, so now is an excellent time to get an insecticide treatment and it should last you for the rest of the summer.

Boruch: Is that right, one treatment, now, should cover householders for the rest of the summer?

Dovid: If it's a mild insect infestation, one treatment now should last you through the end or the middle of August. If you want to do something which is preventative all year around than you want to make that first application at the beginning of April, and an application now would, in essence, be your second application.

Boruch: Now let me ask you, if someone who is a condominium owner or renter has insects and he calls you do you also spray around the entire condominium building or just in his one apartment.

Dovid: I simply treat that particular unit. And I will eliminate all the insects pertaining to that particular unit. Now people often use the strategy, saying that "my neighbors got pest treatment and now the roaches will come through the walls, and so I should get free treatment paid by them or by the condominium management." But rarely do you have the situation where roaches go through the wall, and the rest of the building will have to play catch-up to you.

Boruch: Okay. Now, Dovid, what insects does this treatment not cover. 

Dovid: It would not be sufficient to eradicate bedbugs. Now there's a difference in terms of treatment application. Most treatment applications are for pest control, they want to control the pests that are bothering them. Now if you go into pest elimination, that requires more chemicals and more work and more money. Now when you are dealing with bedbugs, there is no real remedy in bedbug control. You don't want bedbug control, you want bedbug elimination. It's a lot more work and requires stronger chemicals.

Boruch: Okay. All right folks. You've just heard about it from Dovid. Now is the time to get an insecticide treatment. One treatment now, and you will be insect free for the whole summer.

Dovid: And anyone who clicks on a link from a website with this podcast, can get the entire treatment for only $99.00. I am running a $99 special if they say they saw it on your blog.

Boruch:  Okay folks, you've heard it from Dovid, if you heard about this special on my blog, you can get be pest free all summer for only $99.00. We'll that's it for another episode of "Day in the Life of Dovid Davis Pest Specialist." I'm Boruch Fishman, have a pest free day. 

A decade or two ago, bedbugs had all but disappeared as a major American pest. Then they began to return, and within the last few years their presence in American homes has burgeoned into a modern pest epidemic. What are bedbugs, what are their life habits, and why have they returned, that is the subject of this article.

Bed bugs are classified as part of the insect family Cimicidae. Three bedbug species feed on people. The most important bedbug species in human infestations is Cimex lectularius. Bedbugs may infest any type of warm blooded mammal, such as bats, birds, and mice.

Cimex lectularius is most usually found in the northern temperate weather of North America . Europe, and Central Asia and is most easily adapted to city dwelling areas. It dwells less often in southern temperate regions. In Florida and tropical areas it is replaced by C. hemipterus. At one time, thanks to effective insecticides such as DDT, bedbug infestations were greatly diminished in number. In recent years, however, because of the ban on the most powerful insecticides, greater urban congestion and the increase in international travel, bedbugs have made a comeback.


IDENTIFICATION AND LIFE CYCLE
Adult bed bugs are wingless 1/5 inch long oval rusty red or mahogany in color. Bed bug bodies are very thin and they have long antennae. Bedbug eyes are tiny, and the area behind their head expands forward on either side giving the appearance of a renaissance ruff collar. The immature bedbug appear identical to the adults except for their size, thinner cuticle, and a lighter, yellowish white color. Bed bugs are readily distinguished from kissing bugs, the vector of Chagas disease by their smaller size, more rounded shape, and lack of wings as adults.

Bed bugs are known for spread rapidly because even a single pregnant female can infest a home. This is because the female bed bug lays anywhere from 200 to 500 eggs (in batches of 10 to 50). They lay their eggs in very commonly available places, including rough surfaces such as wood or paper. Bed bug eggs are covered with a sticky substance and hatch in about 10 days. Even after the egg hatches, the shells frequently remain on the substrate. Subsequently, bedbugs pass through five nymphal stages of growth. Bedbug nymphs require a single blood meal before molting to the next stage. The entire bedbug life cycle from egg to adult stretches over a span of time lasting anywhere from 5 weeks to 4 months, depending on temperature. Bed bugs develop more rapidly in a warm climate with thermometry readings between 72 to 80 degrees. Both bedbug nymphs and adults usually feed on mammals at night and hide in dark places during the day. Common bedbug hiding places include mattresses and box spring seams, cracks in bed frames, behind loose wallpaper, on the back of picture frames, and inside sofa and chair fabric covering.

Bed bugs can live for 80 to 140 days without any external nutrition; bedbugs at later stages of development can survive longer without nutrition than younger bedbugs. Adult bedbugs have survived without food for as long as 550 days. A adult bedbug can ingest six times its bodily weight in blood, and a bed bug blood snack can extend 3 to 10 minutes. Mature bedbugs live about 10 months and because of the average age when bedbugs start breeding there can be up to 3 to 4 generations of bedbugs during the course of a year.

Download | Duration: 00:03:44

Mice  not only introduce horrid smells and dirt into the home, they also carry serious illnesses and consequently should be removed from the home at the first indication of an infestation. To illustrate my theme, I will present various illnesses conveyed to humans by mice. Mice  transmit the bacteria Salmonella Typhimurium. While not the most dangerous of bacteria, Salmonella Typhimurium can cause irritating intestinal complaints, which include loose stool, bowel pain, nausea and wretching. The salmonella related intestinal symptoms can prove fatal for people with a weakened constitution. The bacteria is spread through food contaminated by mice droppings and is the most common cause of food poisoning.

Mice  can transmit tapeworms.Mice become infected with tapeworm when they inadvertently eat food contaminated with a parasitic worm. Humans become infected if they ingest food contaminated with infected mice  droppings. This can frequently happen after people touch mice  or mice  droppings and then neglect to wash their hands thoroughly before eating.

Murine  Typhus is a mild disease that can be transmitted by both rat and mice fleas. The disease is contracted when a human bite victim scratches the place where he has been bitten by an infected flea. While scratching he inevitably pushes flea feces into the blood stream, and that permits the typhus to enter the body. Symptoms, which begin 6 days to 2 weeks after the bite, include fever, aching muscles and headache.

Leptospirosis is a more serious disease transmitted by mice . It appears in many forms and levels of severity and is one of the major reasons homeowners should assiduously work to rid their home of these disease carrying rodents .. When full blown the disease is alternatively called infectious jaundice or Wiel's disease. Symptoms of Leptospirosis include vomiting, high fever, chills, a rash, achy muscles and jaundice. Other complications of Leptospirosis can include difficulty breathing, kidney damage, liver failure and meningitis. Leptospirosis is usually transmitted by mouse  urine.

The most serious mouse  borne illness is Hantavirus. This rare condition is found throughout North and South America. The disease can be contacted through inhalation of dust contaminated with mice urine or droppings or through direct contact with mice or their urine or droppings or rarely through a mouse bite. The virus causes Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which is a potentially deadly disease.

One other condition transmitted by mice  is Polio. Polio was once a serious and potentially fatal condition but is prevented, today, by vaccination.

These six diseases transmitted by mice  are six good reasons why you should call an exterminator 

Besides causing itching in pets and humans, fleas  can transmit several diseases, at least one of which is potentially deadly. Fortunately, thanks to modern medical advances, most flea transmitted diseases are curable and the most dangerous conditions rarely appear in civilized countries.
 
As a carrier of disease, fleas  are most well known for their role in transmitting the Bubonic Plague. Bubonic plague is transmitted to humans when an infected flea  bites a human victim. Fleas  catch Bubonic Plague by feeding on infected rodents. The plague itself is caused by a bacteria. While responsible for millions of deaths in the past, today plague is a rarity in the United States, seen only occasionally in Southern California, New Mexico and Southwest Texas.Symptoms of the plague include a swollen lymph node,( the buboe),which if untreated can lead to a massive infection that can spread throughout the body and is frequently fatal.

Murine Typhus is another condition spread by fleas . Unlike epidemic typhus, Murine Typhus is a mild febrile condition caused by a tiny organism called a Riketsia. The disease is spread to humans who are bitten by infected fleas . Infection occurs when the flea feces  mix into the blood of the bite area. Murine typhus is rare in the United States, most cases are from Texas.

Fleas may also be a vector for spreading tapeworm infection. The infection is transmitted when humans accidentally ingest infected fleas.
Another disease which can be transmitted to humans from fleas is cat scratch fever. Bartonella henselae are the cause of this disease. The condition can be transmitted to humans when an open sore accidentally comes in contact with flea droppings mixed into the fur of a pet cat. The condition can cause painful swollen nodes, but is otherwise not serious.
Flea allergy dermatitis, an allergic reaction to the flea's saliva, is one of the most common causes of skin disease in dogs and cats. Allergy dermatitis can lead to hair loss, and secondary skin irritations. In extreme cases, the dermatitis can become infected.
Finally, extreme flea infestations can lead to pet anemia and even pet death.

Today, thanks to modern medical treatments, flea pests are known mostly for the annoyance of their itchy bites and the allergic dermatitis caused by the scratching of their bites.

Download | Duration: 00:07:17

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In this episode of "Day in the Life of Dovid Davis Pest Specialist," the moderator willl be asking Dovid some tough questions about flea pesticides that contain possible carcinogens.

 

 

 

 

Content:

 

Hi and welcome to another episode of "Day in the Life of Dovid Davis, pest specialist.  Today we have going to be confronting Dovid with some difficult questions.

 

Dovid is a respected professional Baltimore pest control  expert, who is very experienced using all the chemicals in the pest control armementarium. We're going to be asking Dovid togive his opinion about some of the chemicals in flea and tick sprays, which are known to be carcinogenic.

Boruchovid, I looked into this problem. I found a group called NRDC, the National Resource Defense Council. This group has set up a web page which provides information about all the sprays and chemicals used to treat fleas and tics.

I checked on their list to see what they had to say about the chemical treatment you most often talk about, "Front Line." And here's what they say. "It is used sparingly, and avoided if there is a pregnant woman in the house and avoid using around children, because the main product, Fipronil, is considered a possible carcinogen. What's your response to this?

Dovid: Fipronil is a powerful chemical. It is a major ingredient of Combat Roach Spray, Max Force, and it is also found in pesticides. Because you find it the sprays that I use for roaches and termites, you have to have to use the same precautions that you would in general.But Front Line, even though it has Fipronil, is not a spray. It is something that you are putting on the pet itself.

Boruch: Would you recommend that Front Line not be used in a household with a pregnant woman and a young child and a cat that likes to jump up onto the mother's lap?

Dovid: No, no. In the first place, it's not my responsibility. Fipronil sprays are purchased from the vet. That's something that a veterinarian would give to a family after they took their dog to be flea dipped. So that a family getting a product with fipronil will be getting a disclaimer saying how the product should be used, and they won't think it's like Brill cream that you can just spread around the pet.

Boruch: So that's really the responsibility of the vet and not the pest control specialist. But what about Revolution flea and tick collars for cats, this website says that the risk is so great that you should avoid them all together.

Dovid: Most people oppose the use of flea collars because the pesticide impregnated surface continually rubs against the pet's neck.

Boruch: According to the NRDC, the collars are impregnated with propoxr, a probable carcinogen! Are you familiar with it at all?

Dovid: Probably. Yes, yes. But once again, these are regular insecticides, but the amount they are using on pets is a minute amount. So when you were talking about fipronil, I use fipronil for roaches and termites in a one gallon container. A tube of Front Line only contains about 6 drops of anti-flea medication. That's all you're getting, not ounces but drops. And it will say put two drops on the hind legs and two drops behind the shoulder blades. And that's it, you're not getting quantity. So it would be very hard to mess it up, 'cause you really not getting that much.

Boruch: What about Advantage? The NRDC describes it as similar to Front Line. They recommend, once again, to use it sparingly and not at all around pregnant women or children.

Dovid: Again, this is a treatment that is applied to the animal and not to the house. The medicine can only be purchased from a vet, and the amounts to be applied are a matter of droplets. If you were going to be dealing with large quantities it might potentially be hazardous. But the amount that you are getting, the drops, are not going to harm anything. So a pregnant woman could apply it to a dog, because the disclaimer will instruct her to use gloves when she is applying it. So she is only going to be breaking open a little tube and squeezing a drop or two here and a drop or two here.

Boruch: So let me paraphrase what you just said. The quantity of pesticide used in flea treatment is minute and the sale and application of these minute amounts is controlled by the veterinarian.

Dovid: That's not anything that the exterminator is going to be dealing with.

Boruch: Okay. This website also recommends using safer alternatives. These include things that you also recommend, washing the bedding, vacuuming the house, combing daily with a fine tooth flea comb. They also recommend that homeowners try natural flea repellants such as sprays made of lemon grass and cedar wood. Then if the infestation is severe, they advise homeowners to use pesticides containing low risk chemicals such as pyropoxiphen, nitropyron and spinosad.

Dovid: You can do all those things that are natural. But when all else fails call an exterminator.

Well, that's it for another episode of "Day in the Life of Dovid Davis Pest Specialist ," and folks, have a pest free day.

 

 

 

 

 

　

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This research has been supported by Entymologist Dovis Davis, Director of A #1 Pest Control#http://www.anumberoneanimalandpestcontrol.com Exterminator#http://www.anumberoneanimalandpestcontrol.com Bed Bugs#http://www.anumberoneanimalandpestcontrol.com/bedbugs.htm, Roach#http://www.anumberoneanimalandpestcontrol.com/roaches.htm Animal Flea#http://www.anumberoneanimalandpestcontrol.com/bugs.htm and Termite Control

 

 

 

 

 

　

Keywords:

 

 

 

flea control, flea extermination, flea eradication, flea pesticides

 

 

Download | Duration: 00:03:28

Hi, I'm Boruch Fishman, and welcome to another episode of Close Up. Today, we will be considering if the pesticides on the market today are safe for home use?

Current insecticides on the American market are safer than before, but they can still cause illness and even accidental death if used improperly. On the bright side, according to specifications, they do not cause cancer.

Insecticides are chemical formulations used to eradicate or mitigate infestations of insects including such common household pests as flies,  fleas, ants, spiders,  cockroaches , wasps and more. Insecticides may be applied as a spray as poison bait, as powders or liquids.

Pesticide is a more all inclusive word than insecticide and includes substances meant to kill and eradicate all forms of pests including non-insect pests such as mice , animals , plant pests, fungi, bacteria and viruses.

Example of common household pesticides include cockroach sprays and baits, insect repellants for personal use, rodent poisons, flea and tick spray, powders, pet collars, antifungals, even sanitizing chemicals that can be used around the house or around swimming pools and weed killers.

Domestic pesticides are controlled by a number of government regulations, which date back to the 1950s.  In devising these procedures, the government weighed the risk versus the benefits of using the various substances to control infestations. When the benefits of using certain pesticides is great, chemicals with risks are approved for use, and therefore users must handle these products with caution. 

A 1954 law called for the determination of permissible concentrations of pesticides in agricultural products and a 1958 law added regulations which apply to any pesticide that leaves traceable residues of chemicals in food. According to this amendment, any substance which is found to induce cancer is automatically banned from the market.

As a result of these regulations, many chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides were withdrawn from use. This led to the introduction of organophosphate and carbamate pesticides, many of which are harmful to pets. Owners must therefore be very observant of side effects in pets exposed to pesticide treatment. More recently, some of these harmful compounds have been taken off the market.

While many regulations are in place, common pesticides, as noted above, can have harmful side effects and therefore users should take certain common sense precautions when using them. Homeowners should carefully read the label on any pesticide, before using it, especially if they are to be used in any area where food is consumed or placed. All food surfaces should be thoroughly wiped after use. Fish tanks and bird cages should be covered before spraying with insecticides.  And hands should be thoroughly washed after spraying or using pesticides.  

For severe infestations a homeowner is encouraged to consult a licensed pest specialist , who is familiar with the proper use of the more powerful pesticides.

Well that's it for another episode of Closeup. I'm Boruch Fishman. Have a great day.

Late summer and fall picnics can be ruined by the presence of stinging insects , mostly yellow jackets, which are attracted by sweet foods placed out on the table. However, the problem can be remedied with the use of inexpensive store bought or even free home made yellow jacket traps.

If you wish to buy a trap, an online consumer website http://www.galttech.com/research/household-DIY-tools/yellow-jacket-traps.php recommends  RESCUE Reusable Yellow Jacket Trap . The traps are inexpensive, ($10.00), and reusable. If you run out of bait you can substitute something sweet like sugar water or crushed fruit or soft drink.  A second choice is Raid Disposable Yellow Jacket Trap (81605) - 4 Pack:. These traps cost around $35.00. However, the advantage is that they are disposable, and avoid the need to clean and reuse.   A third recommendation is Glass Yellow Jacket & Wasp Trap: by Greenfleet . These traps go for around $20.00 they are reusable, decorative and attract wasps as well as yellow jackets. 

If you prefer, you can build a very effective yellow jacket trap, in a few minutes at no cost at all. The only supplies you will need are an empty 2 liter plastic bottle, some tape or staples, some string and a kitchen knife or hole puncher. Just follow the instructions.

1. Take an empty 2 liter plastic bottle; a mineral water bottle will do just fine.
2. Cut the top off, just where the diameter has become as wide as the body.
3. Fill the empty bottle base partially full of bait.          
4. Yellow jackets like protein  in the spring, when they are mating, so if it's springtime you will use a chunk of meat.     
5. If it's late summer, when yellow jackets are most aggressive, use something sweet, like fruit chunks. They love mashed up grapes or banana. Other bait choices include a 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water mixture, 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, I banana peel, half fill bottle, lemonade or even Pepsi/soda. You can use anything you have seen yellow jackets attracted to at one of your outdoor picnics.       
6. To add to the killing power of the trap, squirt in a couple of tablespoons of dish washing liquid        
7. A  little bit of yellow food coloring can also be added as the color yellow attracts them.
8. Now invert the top of the plastic bottle, upside down, so that it resembles a funnel, and place it inside the lower half of the bottle, remember to remove the plastic top.
9. It should hold in place, depending on the bottle shape
10. Tape and/or staple the top together with the bottom of the bottle. Make sure the seal is tight.
11. Cut two holes in the plastic where the two pieces come together, near the top. Put string through the holes and use to hang the bottle.
12. Use a slippery substance such as hot soapy water, dishwashing soap or Vaseline and spread it along the exposed surface of the funnel. This will cause the yellow jackets to lose their footing and fall into the trap. Cooking oil may also be used.
13. Place about 20 feet from the picnic table
14. Works best at a height of four feet
15. Works best at around 85 degrees
16. The yellow jackets will fly in, attracted to the sweet. When they try and leave, insect  logic dictates they should look for the highest point to exit. They will fly around, but miss the inverted opening. When they get tired they will fall into the soapy liquid. The soapy liquid, will stick to the yellow jacket body making it impossible for them to breath. 
17. When full replace the trap with a new one or empty the trap regularly making sure the yellow jackets are dead. You can kill the yellow jackets by filling the bottle full of water, or covering it with plastic and placing it in the freezer until they freeze to death.
18. Replenish the bait every few days.
19. DON'T let live yellow jackets escape. Their frenzied distress in the trap will attract nearby yellow jackets, and the idea is to keep them all in the trap.  DON'T crush yellow jacket bodies as that emits a smell warning yellow jackets to attack. You can also free the yellow jackets in the wild, however they may return  
20. Bury dead yellow jackets or flush them down the toilet as dead yellow jackets emit a warning odor to living yellowjackets .

Good luck and enjoy your outdoor picnics in safety.