eChipmunks

is pest control safe for kids?

The pest control company that I am talking to uses internationally proven intelliget technology to combat cockroaches. They claim it is perfectly safe for humans. Since I have a toddler at home, I have to be extra careful. When I asked them about it, they said that will not affect her. Does anyone know about this / have any experience with this?

Public Comments

1. You might ask them exactly what product they use and you can look it up yourself. I am a licensed to spray insects outdoors, but had to do some studies on indoor control as well. Depending on the insect controlled there are forms of hormones they can use to effectively control insects and those products are normally friendly to humans. Also most products used in the home are pretty mild, if your company is telling you that the product is safe around children most likely it is, or you couldn't have them in the home while they were doing it. There are strict guidelines with lots of inspections when you are in this Field. If anything was to happen they would be most liable. If you are worried about whether they are knowledgeable enough to know you could always request a copy of their license and insurance. Any company with those two things should have a good idea what they are talking about. Everyone is trying to go green which is great because more and more companies are coming out with human friendly products.
2. Never heard of it but you can use boric acid which is the same stuff you use for rinsing you eyes found in most drug stores it is very effective on cockroaches. It is also found in chemical products that is specifically for killing roaches. I have mixed boric acid with De con for killing mice and it worked. I always kept anything I used around my daughter out of reach and put the product in places the roaches go and where she was unaware of it.
3. stop crying like a baby and let my fellow bug man do his job JEEZ!
4. Interestingly enough, there are a lot of publications in this area. There have been a lot of poisonings throughout the years by unlicensed applicators, or by products that were thought to have been safe. For example, a couple of active ingredients, diazinon and chlorpyrifos were banned for urban use in 2004 because of their toxicity. This is after lots of people (many children) had been poisoned. Greaaaat... Anywho, here are some links to how to choose a good pesticide applicator... I am more familiar with this agency... http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/dept/factshts/citguide.pdf But this looked good too... http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1101/ANR-1101.pdf?PHPSESSID=c327a46d987610ecfab6ac79f01cc4ba You sound concerned enough, so hopefully you'll have the time and inclination to peruse the articles. Unfortunately, a lot of pest control stuff is soooo confusing and contradictory, and complicated and so a lot of organizations have tried to decipher it for people. Hope this helps! To add on, here are some links that have information about how to do your own pest control. I think that if you don't have a huge problem (and even if you do), you are probably better off not going with a company who just wants to sell you pesticides and some service you might not even need. This is probably my favorite pest control site... http://ipm.ucdavis.edu This has some nice info too, not too confusing I hope! http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/dept/factshts/factmenu.htm Anywho, good luck good luck, and it is good that you are aware of the possible threat to your child! So many people assume that the products are safe, that the people applying them know what they are doing.... I've seen the talk about the child poisoned by pesticides applied by someone the parents hired, and it was really sad...