Pest infestations can cause a magnitude of problems, but the use of harmful pesticides to eradicate pests can create even larger problems for your health and the environment. Take a look at our list of harmful pesticides and see why Pest Managers pest control is a safe, effective solution to pest problems.
Harmful Pesticides:
Pests can turn your workplace or home into an uncomfortable, stressful, and dangerous environment. A rat infestation poses the threat of disease, an ant infestation can cause structural damage, and fleas can leave your pets scratching incessantly. Your most effective solution to eradicating pests and the risks they pose is to hire a pest control Cape Town company.
Hiring a pest control company that uses harmful pesticides can cause greater problems than your pest infestation. Harmful pesticides are pesticides that exterminate pests whilst having knock-on effects on the health of surrounding people, animals, or the environment.
Certain pesticides are harmful to human and animal health if they are inhaled, come into contact with skin or eyes, or are ingested. Harmful pesticides can cause a range of negative health effects, ranging from acute symptoms to chronic illnesses.
The use of harmful pesticides can also affect the surrounding environment. If the harmful pesticides come into contact with soil, water sources, or groundwater, the surrounding ecosystems are put under threat.
The use of harmful pesticides to eradicate pests from your home or workplace should always be avoided. You can rely on Pest Managers for an effective pest control Cape Town solution that will not put you, your pets, or the surrounding environment at risk.
Top Eleven Harmful Pesticides:
We have covered the top eleven harmful pesticides so that you can avoid pest control Cape Town companies that use these pesticides.
1) Propoxyur:
Propoxur, which is commonly referred to as Baygon, is an insecticide that is used to eradicate flies, mosquitos, silverfish, ants, ticks, mites, and cockroaches. You can also find propoxur in certain flea collars for pets. Propoxur is typically applied through spraying or as a dust in homes, businesses, and for agricultural purposes.
Acute exposure to propoxur can result in eye irritation. If inhaled, propoxur can cause respiratory irritation, drowsiness, sweating, blurred vision, and dizziness. These are all transient effects and should subside.
If you are exposed to propoxur for an extended period, you may experience headaches, nausea, and vomiting. Propoxur is toxic to humans and animals if ingested.
Propoxur is often sprayed on lawns to eradicate smaller insects which are pests in homes. This can lead to propoxyur being washed away in the rain and end up in nearby water sources. Propoxur has been shown to be toxic to aquatic life and has long-lasting effects on aquatic ecosystems.
2) Glyphosate:
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world by commercial gardeners. It is found to be highly toxic and can cause many short-term and long-term health effects. Not to mention it can be harmful to important pollinators such as honeybees.
To help educate those in the farming and gardening industries about this toxic chemical, we’ve created two comprehensive guides. One covers things like what it is used for, symptoms, and side effects. The second guide discusses non-toxic alternatives. Please take a look:
or view more information about Roundup on Drugwatch – drugwatch.com/roundup/
Glyphosate is an herbicide and is widely used in homes and the agricultural industry. Glyphosate herbicides target grasses and broadleaf weeds, such as dandelion and clover.
Typically, glyphosate herbicides are sprayed on the weeds. The weeds then absorb the glyphosate, which inhibits the plant’s ability to grow, and thus kills the plants.
Glyphosate is also used in agriculture as a crop desiccant. By speeding up the drying process of crops such as wheat, beans, and oats, glyphosate will improve harvest yields.
Short-term exposure to glyphosate can cause conjunctivitis. If ingested, you may experience throat damages and kidney or liver failure.
Glyphosate herbicides have been shown to have risks for birds, beneficial plants, and water sources. Glyphosate herbicides can also be toxic to bees.
3) Metaldehyde:
Metaldehyde is a pesticide used to eliminate snails and slugs in household gardens and on farms. Metaldehyde pesticides come in liquid, dust, spray, or granule form. Metaldehyde pesticides are typically flavoured with a sweetener to attract snails or slugs to ingest the lethal pesticide.
Short-term exposure to metaldehyde can cause skin, eye, gastrointestinal tract, and throat irritation. If ingested, you may experience nausea, fever, abdominal pain, and convulsions. Post ingestion you may have persistent memory loss.
Metaldehyde is toxic for all domestic pets. Dogs typically fall victim to metaldehyde due to ingesting the pesticide left out for the slugs or snails.
Metaldehyde is frequently found as a pollutant in water sources and poses a risk to aquatic life and fresh drinking water. By the end of March 2022, the use of metaldehyde in the UK will be banned due to environmental impacts.
4) Diazinon:
Diazinon is an insecticide that is used to eradicate silverfish, spiders, cockroaches, fleas, and flies from homes, farms, and workplaces. Diazinon is widely used due to its broad-spectrum pest control for pests commonly found in homes.
Low exposure to diazinon for humans and most animals will result in mild symptoms which can cause nausea, abdominal pain, watering eyes, drooling, and vomiting.
Diazinon is highly toxic to birdlife and aquatic life and therefore poses a threat to surrounding ecosystems.
6) Acephate:
Acephate is an insecticide specifically used for garden pests such as aphids, leaf miners, spider mites, and caterpillars.
Exposure to acephate through skin contact, inhalation, or ingestion can result in a rapid heart rate, diarrhoea, sweating, dizziness, nausea, and shaking. If pets ingest acephate insecticides, they may start vomiting, shaking, have a loss of bowel control, and experience difficulty walking or breathing.
Because acephate is typically used to eradicate outdoor pests, it increases the chances of becoming a harmful pollutant to the nearby environment.
Acephate can have long-term effects on nearby birds and aquatic life. Certain bird species will have a lower rate of eggs and hatchling survival if exposed to acephate. Fish and amphibians can be born with deformities in acephate-contaminated water. Acephate is highly toxic to bees and other environmentally beneficial insects.
7) Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane:
Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, or DDT, is an insecticide that was widely used in agriculture in the 1970s. Currently, it is most widely used to eradicate malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
DDT has been banned from use in numerous countries, but not South Africa. South Africa allows for the use of indoor residual DDT applications. The reasoning behind this is that DDT is highly effective in eradicating mosquitoes. As a country with high malaria risks, the use of DDT has been shown to drastically reduce malaria cases over the years.
Low exposure to DDT is not associated with physical symptoms. High exposure will result in vomiting, tremors, and possibly seizures.
DDT has been banned due to it having numerous toxic effects on wildlife in surrounding exposed environments. DDT is a persistent chemical, which means it stays present in polluted soil or water sources for an extended period. Predatory birds are especially affected by DDT if they eat numerous smaller birds or aquatic life that have ingested DDT.
8) Malathion:
Malathion, which is typically referred to as mercaptothion in South Africa, is used in a variety of insecticides. Malathion is used to target insect pests that affect gardens and crops. It is especially common in fruit fly eradication programs on farms.
Exposure to high doses of malathion can cause nausea, vomiting, weakness, headaches, diarrhoea, muscular tremors, and bodily weakness in humans and animals. The human body is generally able to break down malathion quickly, so physical symptoms will be transient.
Malathion is highly toxic to bees and other beneficial insects. If malathion contaminates water sources, it can be toxic to certain fish species.
9) Dursban:
Dursban, which is also referred to as chlorpyrifos, is an insecticide that is used to eradicate ants, spiders, fleas, wasps, and cockroaches from homes, workplaces, and farms.
Dursban has been banned from use in all European Union countries as well as South Africa. This is due to the range of negative effects dursban has on health, especially children.
Exposure to dursban during pregnancy or early years of life has been shown to have connections to the development of autism spectrum disorders, developmental delays, and attention deficit disorder in children.
High exposure to dursban through skin contact, inhalation, or ingestion can result in slurred speech, fatigue, paralysis, and possible death from cardiac arrest or respiratory failure.
Dursban has severe effects on fish and birdlife, particularly pigeons, robins, and ducks.
10) Parathion:
Parathion is a broad-spectrum insecticide. Parathion comes in liquid form with a distinct garlic smell.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has banned the use of parathion on numerous crops, such as fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Agricultural workers and the surrounding environment are at risk of the toxic effects caused by the residual action.
Low exposure to parathion will result in fatigue and loss of appetite. High exposure to parathion can cause convulsions, loss of bowel control, psychosis, coma, and possibly death due to cardiac arrest or respiratory failure.
Parathion has negative impacts on ecosystems as it is toxic to aquatic life, bees, and certain small mammals.
11) Tetrachlorvinphos:
Tetrachlorvinphos, or TCVP, is an insecticide used to eradicate lice, flies, insect larvae on livestock, and fleas and ticks on pets. TCVP typically comes in dust, pellet, or pet collar form.
Low exposure to TCVP can result in skin irritation and the development of a skin allergy. Inhaling TCVP can cause coughing, shortness of breath, and extreme amounts of inhaled TCVP can cause a fluid build-up in the lungs which will need medical attention.
High exposure to TCVP can cause headaches, sweating, loss of coordination, and can be fatal. If consistently exposed to low doses of TCVP, you may experience personality changes resulting in irritability, anxiety, or depression.
TCVP is generally safe for use on pets but can cause an allergic skin reaction in dogs.
Pest Managers Pest Control Cape Town:
Pest Managers is your first choice for pest control in Cape Town. We ensure that our pest control services are safe for you, your pets, and the surrounding environment with our target specific pest control solutions.
Pest Managers pest control services are safe for the environment. We only use biodegradable products. This means that when we do pest control in your home, office, or on your farm, you do not need to worry about the surrounding soil or water sources.
Pest Managers ensures that pest control treatments are effective with target-specific eradication using environmentally friendly products. We understand that some insects or animals are pests whilst others are critical to a healthy ecosystem. Our eco-friendly pest control services will ensure your home or workplace is pest-free without causing unnecessary harm to surrounding wildlife.
Your safety and the safety of your pet are of the utmost importance to us. Pest Managers is a team of professionals who have taken every step to ensure our pest control solutions are effective without causing any risk of harm. We guarantee efficient, affordable, and total eradication of pests in your home or workplace without the use of harmful pesticides.
Avoid pest control companies that use harmful pesticides and opt for safe and effective pest control with Pest Managers.