Aug 13, 2011 – Treating Around Containers
QUESTION:
We are bidding on a warehouse for pest control where they store glass jars that are used for food products. Is there a pesticide we can use in our back pack foggers as a space spray?
ANSWER:
This is a good question, and one that does not have an easy answer except that nearly all pesticide labels will tell us to either avoid contacting food surfaces or wash that surface after we are done with the application. If these glass jars are NOT going to be washed again prior to filling them with food products then it would seem that you need to carefully avoid any insecticide contact with them. It would seem most likely to me that there would be some washing stage just prior to food going into the jars, but you would have to determine this yourself, and if you are not certain then avoiding contact with the jars would be the best step.
Since fogging is going to put insecticide pretty much everywhere you may not be able to use this application method if the jars cannot be covered in some way prior to the application, and in a large warehouse I cannot see anyone going to this amount of trouble. This would be even more unlikely if the storage areas for the jars are the areas of concern with respect to the pests, and you need to treat in and around them. For example, I picked one product called Pyganic Pro, which is only pyrethrum with no synergists, figuring if any fogging product would have a lenient Label this one would. But, even it states that "All food processing surfaces and equipment should be covered or washed" before use, so if these jars were contacted you would need to have some way to ensure they were washed before use or you could be inviting trouble.
So, I hate to be the Gloomy Gus on this, but perhaps a space spray is not going to be your best option, and you might instead consider spot and localized treating with a hand sprayer instead. You do not indicate what pest(s) you are concerned with here, but if it is just general insect pests in this warehouse that does not actually contain food then perhaps spot treating would be more effective anyhow. This seems to cry out for a strong IPM program where you inspect to determine exactly what pests are present and where, how they are entering the warehouse so you can perform exclusion as well as exterior management to reduce their presence around the structure, the use of traps where appropriate, and that directed use of residual materials into and around the harborage sites. Perhaps the concern is with flies, in which case good exclusion and the use of UV light traps and other traps will help reduce the problem.
I know that time is money and perhaps this customer is not planning a large budget for the pest management. However, it should be recognized that the presence of any bugs in food in these jars later could be a serious economic hit to this warehouse if those bugs are traced back to this storage environment. Walking around with foggers can be fast and can knock down exposed adult insects, but generally it does not get to the heart of a pest problem, and spending the time to work on the contributing conditions that permitted these pests inside in the first place will go a long way to reducing the need for pesticide applications in the future.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
We are bidding on a warehouse for pest control where they store glass jars that are used for food products. Is there a pesticide we can use in our back pack foggers as a space spray?
ANSWER:
This is a good question, and one that does not have an easy answer except that nearly all pesticide labels will tell us to either avoid contacting food surfaces or wash that surface after we are done with the application. If these glass jars are NOT going to be washed again prior to filling them with food products then it would seem that you need to carefully avoid any insecticide contact with them. It would seem most likely to me that there would be some washing stage just prior to food going into the jars, but you would have to determine this yourself, and if you are not certain then avoiding contact with the jars would be the best step.
Since fogging is going to put insecticide pretty much everywhere you may not be able to use this application method if the jars cannot be covered in some way prior to the application, and in a large warehouse I cannot see anyone going to this amount of trouble. This would be even more unlikely if the storage areas for the jars are the areas of concern with respect to the pests, and you need to treat in and around them. For example, I picked one product called Pyganic Pro, which is only pyrethrum with no synergists, figuring if any fogging product would have a lenient Label this one would. But, even it states that "All food processing surfaces and equipment should be covered or washed" before use, so if these jars were contacted you would need to have some way to ensure they were washed before use or you could be inviting trouble.
So, I hate to be the Gloomy Gus on this, but perhaps a space spray is not going to be your best option, and you might instead consider spot and localized treating with a hand sprayer instead. You do not indicate what pest(s) you are concerned with here, but if it is just general insect pests in this warehouse that does not actually contain food then perhaps spot treating would be more effective anyhow. This seems to cry out for a strong IPM program where you inspect to determine exactly what pests are present and where, how they are entering the warehouse so you can perform exclusion as well as exterior management to reduce their presence around the structure, the use of traps where appropriate, and that directed use of residual materials into and around the harborage sites. Perhaps the concern is with flies, in which case good exclusion and the use of UV light traps and other traps will help reduce the problem.
I know that time is money and perhaps this customer is not planning a large budget for the pest management. However, it should be recognized that the presence of any bugs in food in these jars later could be a serious economic hit to this warehouse if those bugs are traced back to this storage environment. Walking around with foggers can be fast and can knock down exposed adult insects, but generally it does not get to the heart of a pest problem, and spending the time to work on the contributing conditions that permitted these pests inside in the first place will go a long way to reducing the need for pesticide applications in the future.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
