Jan 2, 2012 – Sensitive Settings
QUESTION:
Silverfish in a hospital setting. What's the best control for them?
ANSWER:
Silverfish can be a real challenge, particularly in a very large building such as a hospital, and particularly given the sensitive nature of hospitals. These fast moving insects can cover a lot of ground between the voids they hide in and the places where they are seen foraging for food. Hopefully you can attack them in a very localized area if they are only being seen in a few rooms. Silverfish and firebrats feed on a wide variety of materials that includes dry grain-based human foods, dead insects, starchy materials such as the glue in book bindings or behind wallpaper, and even certain kinds of papers. On the exterior they often are found within piles of firewood or lumber, under items on the ground or concrete, and within debris such as piles of old cardboard boxes. On the interior they often will be noticed when some items are lifted from floors or tables and the hidden silverfish runs out from under. They are nocturnal, so they are usually seen only when disturbed in the daytime. They also commonly get trapped in sinks and bathtubs because they fell in, perhaps drawn to water, and could not get a grip on the slick porcelain to climb back out.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
Silverfish in a hospital setting. What's the best control for them?
ANSWER:
Silverfish can be a real challenge, particularly in a very large building such as a hospital, and particularly given the sensitive nature of hospitals. These fast moving insects can cover a lot of ground between the voids they hide in and the places where they are seen foraging for food. Hopefully you can attack them in a very localized area if they are only being seen in a few rooms. Silverfish and firebrats feed on a wide variety of materials that includes dry grain-based human foods, dead insects, starchy materials such as the glue in book bindings or behind wallpaper, and even certain kinds of papers. On the exterior they often are found within piles of firewood or lumber, under items on the ground or concrete, and within debris such as piles of old cardboard boxes. On the interior they often will be noticed when some items are lifted from floors or tables and the hidden silverfish runs out from under. They are nocturnal, so they are usually seen only when disturbed in the daytime. They also commonly get trapped in sinks and bathtubs because they fell in, perhaps drawn to water, and could not get a grip on the slick porcelain to climb back out.
The goal is to attack them at their source, but easier said than done. You can discourage their presence beginning on the outside, which presumably is where they originated, by removing all unnecessary clutter that brings them close to a building. For a hospital this is a challenge, but a walk around the exterior still might reveal a lot of things that encourage their presence next to the building. This particularly is the case at loading docks and back areas that customers do not normally see. On the inside you can recommend storing all boxes off the floor and on metal racks if possible, and if at all possible eliminate corrugated cardboard boxes. Silverfish commonly reside within voids such as wall voids and attics and drop ceilings, and with the permission of the hospital management you could treat these areas with a fog, using a product labeled for this application method in hospitals. On PestWeb you can view a list of ALL products labeled specifically for hospitals. Go into Product Documents, select "Products By Approved Site" / Structures / Commercial Structures / Hospitals. Similarly you can view a list of all products labeled for silverfish by selecting the tab "Products by Target Pest".
Given the sensitive nature of hospitals you need to show discretion on how you apply insecticides, and absolutely must ensure they are contained within whatever space you apply them to. Fogging may be tough to manage in this manner, other than fogging with wall voids using a void injector machine. If you can interview the people who work in the area where these insects are being seen you might get a handle on the likely voids the bugs are hiding in. For wall voids you might consider the use of an inorganic dust such as silica gel or diatomaceous earth. They can be injected with a duster that creates some turbulence to move the dust around in the void, and these products last for many years to kill insects by desiccation.
Silverfish also will accept some granular bait products, and I have seen good results using them in a hospital setting. Some of these include Dekko Silverfish Packs that are pre-loaded bait packets that could be placed in drop ceilings or attics. Another excellent product is Niban Granular bait, as well as some of the Intice granular baits from Rockwell. The granular baits can also be applied directly into wall voids using a small granule applicator such as the Centrobulb. You might also consider a careful application of a liquid spray, concentrating on likely travel locations of the insects, such as junctions of floor to ceiling or wall corners and wall to ceiling junctions. A microencapsulated product that is properly labeled for hospitals would probably offer the longest residual and perhaps be most easily acquired by the passing insect that crawls over the treated surface.
Insect glue traps also can be placed strategically to monitor the results and to determine where you may want to direct your treatments. These can be placed where they will not bother people working there, and you might even enlist some of the employees to check these for you and pass along whether or not they find any silverfish in them.
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