Safety Is Key Issue When Using Chemicals
The battle against termites is being fought with some powerful chemical weapons. And though there’s no doubt that pesticides kill termites, there are questions about--and controversy over--their effects on people.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that pesticides undergo rigorous health testing and are safe if applied correctly.
But critics say that the EPA’s tests do not consider the long-term effects of pesticides and that pest control companies can make serious errors when applying the chemicals.
“People want zero risk, but there’s no such thing,” said Veda Federighi, a spokesperson for the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.
“The question is not whether a pesticide is safe but whether it can be used safely,” she said. “And we don’t register anything that can’t be used safely.”
Before a pesticide is registered for use, the U.S. EPA requires extensive studies of its effects on humans and the environment. Pesticide companies pay for private labs to do the testing under federal guidelines. The California Environmental Protection Agency requires even more studies before it will register a product.
However, Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, said the EPA’s registration process is flawed and incomplete because it does not take into account long-term potential health risks.
Research can pinpoint the amount of chemical that causes acute effects, such as skin and eye irritation, Feldman said, but cannot easily determine if a pesticide causes chronic conditions that might take
months or even years to develop, such as cancer.
Critics are also concerned about children’s exposure to pesticides.
A 1993 report by the National Academy of Sciences found that fetuses, infants and children are more sensitive than adults to pesticides because their developing immune systems provide less protection.
“In the past, we made assumptions about how data from adults is extended to kids, but that data doesn’t always protect kids,” said Robert Chapin, a toxicologist with the National Toxicology Program.
Congress, in response to this criticism, ordered the EPA to look at the effect of pesticides on children. As a result, the EPA is reevaluating pesticides that are already registered to assess their safety risk to children.
The pesticide controversy probably won’t end any time soon, so in the meantime, you’re left to weigh the safety arguments of both sides.
Fumigants
If you’re concerned about the lethal gas used to kill termites during a fumigation, be aware that the gas is very strictly controlled because of its high toxicity.
Deaths from fumigation, though rare, have occurred. Since 1976, 33 people in Los Angeles County have died as a result of a fumigation, according to Robert Donley, deputy director of the environmental protection bureau for the L.A. County Agricultural Commissioner.
Those who died, Donley said, were homeowners who went back into their tented and fumigated homes under the influence of drugs or alcohol, burglars who broke into tented homes, transients trying to escape bad weather and one person who committed suicide.
The only other exposure occurred in 1997, when a woman who lived next door to a house being fumigated was killed when methyl bromide seeped into pipes connecting the two homes.
Federighi said that although fumigators are required to check for such connections, the pipes in this case were “illegal conduits between two buildings and were not visible.”
Besides the deaths, 41 complaints related to fumigation have been reported from 1993 to 1999 in L.A. County, including watery eyes, shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness and nausea.
Liquid Insecticides
Illnesses linked to liquid termiticides, which have been on the anti-pesticide hit list since the early 1960s, are far more common than problems related to fumigants.
The first pesticide to come under fire was chlordane, a relative of DDT, at one time the weapon of choice for battling termites because it lasts 20 years or longer.
The substance--which was available to both consumers and pest control operators--was banned by the EPA in 1988. Research suggested that it caused cancer and nervous system problems in humans and also harmed the environment.
Although consumers can legally still use any chlordane they might have on hand, the EPA recommends getting rid of it. (Residents of Los Angeles County can call the county’s agricultural commission at [626] 575-5472 to learn how to dispose of it safely. Residents of other counties can call their respective agricultural commissions.)
The most controversial chemical today is the organophosphate chlorpyrifos (trade name Dursban), one of the most widely used pesticides for subterranean termites and other insects.
Symptoms linked to chlorpyrifos, both acute and chronic, include headaches, dizziness, muscle weakness, breathing difficulty, abdominal cramps, nausea, blurred vision, depression and irritability.
According to a 1999 EPA report, of the 392,188 incidents of unintended pesticide exposure in peoples’ homes registered by poison-control centers nationwide from 1993 through 1996, 17,771, or 5%, were caused by chlorpyrifos.
Children under age 6 accounted for 51% of the chlorpyrifos exposures. (These figures are for all chlorpyrifos insect treatments, not just those for termite control.)
Chlorpyrifos has not been linked to cancer, but a study on animals is underway to determine how it affects the reproductive, immune and central nervous systems of children.
The lead researcher, Chapin of the National Toxicology Program, said the study is not complete, but he added, “We have no data yet that kids are more susceptible.”
Mark Miller, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ National Committee on Environmental Health, said that homeowners who use chlorpyrifos for termite control have a minimal risk for health problems because chemical termiticides are rarely applied inside the house, unlike treatment for other insects.
Chlorpyrifos, which is applied outside to soil in minute amounts, is poisonous only in large concentrations, Miller said, and “it would be very rare” for a child to get that high a dose from playing in the soil.
Michael Mornic, regional manager for Orkin Pest Control, said that chlorpyrifos is usually injected in the soil near foundations or in crawl spaces, where people would not come into contact with it.
If chlorpyrifos were used inside which the company doesn’t recommend, the operator would drill into a wall void and inject the product, not spray it on exposed surfaces, Mornic said.
The application process is extremely important, however. The EPA study found that the most serious poisonings from chlorpyrifos were caused by products available to pest-control operators, not those used by consumers.
Part of the increased hazard, said the report, results from the high chemical concentrations used by professional companies, “and part is due to careless, poorly supervised, and/or poorly trained [pest control operators].”
What could go wrong? In some cases, the EPA reports, chlorpyrifos applied to soil or foundations escaped into open space or heating ducts. In other cases, the operator did not plug all holes drilled into walls or injected walls inside a building while people were present.
To be as safe as possible, Miller said, “you would not use chemicals at all, especially inside.” But if you do, he offered this advice:
* Make sure the pest control operator is licensed.
* Find out what chemicals will be used and what effects they might have. Less toxic insecticides called pyrethroids, which break down quickly when exposed to sun, air and water, can be used instead of chlorpyrifos to treat soil. Consider a nonchemical method if possible.
* Remove children’s toys and other belongings from the areas of application.
* Pesticides can aggravate allergies, particularly in those with asthma. Talk to your doctor if you’re concerned.
* Do not allow children to be present during the application.
* Have the chemicals applied in a place where children can’t dig.
* To be on the safe side, double the recommendations for reentry time after a pesticide is sprayed.
* If you do get ill after a pesticide application, “call a doctor or your county agricultural commissioner and report it so we can do an investigation,” said Federighi.
