Safe Pest Control?

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is in the news a LOT lately. But what about the regular, everyday issues they provide information about? Like Mosquito Control?

The CDC states that all mosquito repellents should have EPA approved active ingredients. Sounds logical, right? If the EPA has the Registration Number on a pest control product, you can trust it knowing the EPA has given their ‘Safety Blessing’. Right?

Uh, wrong! On so many levels WRONG!

The EPA only registers products using ingredients that are known toxins, poisons, and carcinogens. Stated another way, if a pest control product has a registration number on it, then the EPA knows that the active ingredient is scary.

To receive a registration number, the EPA has performed testing and analysis to determine what the dangerous upper limits of exposure for humans are to that active ingredient. Then the labeling is approved based on directions, cautions, warnings, etc. to supposedly protect the public. Keep in mind the testing is done for 180-pound adult males… not for the toddler weighing 35 pounds being eaten alive by mosquitoes.

An EPA Registration Number on a pest control product means you are using something that is dangerous enough to require monitoring.

It actually gets worse…

Notice on EPA registered pest control product labels where it states the active ingredient and the percentage… then it states either inactive, other or inert ingredients with their percentage. Well, what exactly are the inactive, other or inert ingredients?

Nobody knows. Inactive ingredients are not even identified by the manufacturer or by the EPA. They are categorized as “Trade Secrets” and can be anything on the planet and no one is the wiser.

True story – many pet owners have been using spot drop treatments on their pets for years without issues. Then one year, thousands of pets in the US had chemical burns all down their back from the usual dose. What happened? The manufacturer changed the inactive ingredients because they got something cheaper. Did they get into trouble for harming all these pets? NO! Because they were EPA registered!

The poster child for bad pest control is DEET. Sure, it is effective in repelling bugs, no doubt. But it also has a laundry list of side effects that would make you wonder why ANYONE would expose themselves to something so horrific!

Deet is proven to be responsible for certain health problems such as seizures, rashes, slurred speech, confusion, muscle twitching, and the worst is death. Proven. Numerous reports in 1995 showed clear evidence that DEET is harmful to humans. And it melts plastic – do you want that on your skin?!

Yet the CDC states people should use products with EPA approved ingredients. Hmmm…

Are you safe yet?