They think that if a little chemical does the job, then a lot more must be even better. It was found that the consumer uses 10 times, that’s right 10 times, more pesticides than necessary necessary to solve their pest control issues.
Most don’t even look at the warnings on the label.
They don’t wear gloves, long sleeve shirts, goggles, or any protective clothing when applying pesticides to decrease personal exposure. They don’t read the section of the label on the product that tells them what to do to decrease personal exposure.
Most do-it-yourselfers don’t read the directions on the label that tells them how they can use the product.
They do not store the unused product in a manner that’s safe, keeping it away from children, pets and others that may find it.
In Southern California the Department of Pesticide Regulation keeps track of reported misuses of pesticides in their Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program. Because of State Privacy Laws names are not reported but locations are reported so I’ll show the ones in Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County and San Diego Counties.
A Fullerton homeowner found rats getting into his home through a toilet. Rather than calling Rat Control Company, he bought an incendiary product used for gophers control, ground squirrel control, rabbits, and outside burrow fumigation. He climbed on his roof, lite the device and dropped it down a plumbing vent on his roof. That product melted a pvc elbow in the pipe and caught his roof on fire causing $80,000 worth of damage before firefighters could put the fire out.
A woman, in Huntington Beach, was having a spider control problem in her kitchen. She bought an aerosol pesticide at the supermarket. She sprayed the product inside a cupboard. She then stuck her head in the cupboard to see if it had killed the spider she found earlier. You guessed it; she got sick and headed to the ER.
A Newport Beach doctor is having a fabric pest problem in his closet. He must have gone out and bought a bunch of mothballs. He over-treats his closet with the mothball. When go goes to that closet and wore a suit from it he began to feel dizzy, felt a loss of muscular control. He got to fresh air and recovered. The second time he wore something from the closet he treated , he ended up going to the hospital and stayed overnight to rule out a stroke before the problem was traced to excessive mothball fumes.
A San Juan Capistrano lady moves her car set back and sets off an insect fogger she just bought from the super market. She inhaled the fumes and immediately goes to the ER.
A Tustin resident sets two bug bombs to kill some fleas in his home and leaves. He returns 90 minutes later to air out his home and remained inside. He developed heart symptoms and went to the hospital where he suffered a stroke.
A San Diego home owner has a beach cottage in Carlsbad. He’s getting Oriental Cockroaches in his place. Very common problem near any beach home. He buys and set off 6 bug bombs which he thinks will solve his problem. He leaves to wait for the bug bombs to work. He gets a call from the fire department. His house exploded, knocking it off the foundation, blowing all the widows out, and blowing the roof off the house frame. Label clearly states that only one bug bomb should be used for a house of 1200 square feet and that open flames could cause an explosion. The fire department said that the water heater ignited to heat some water and set off the g. A man in riverside sprays his home sits down to have a smoke. He get sick, turns out he poisons himself. He didn’t use gloves when he sprayed. h. A woman in Los Angeles sees a bug in her bathroom. She sprays it with her Raid. The bug keeps moving, she keeps spraying until the fume overwhelmed her sending her to the hospital.
I can go on and on about this type of pesticide misuse by consumer but I am done.
If you have a pest control problem give us a call. We help your problem safely and effectively.
