Feb 20, 2012 – What Now When Raining?

QUESTION:

Technicians around the country routinely apply pyrethroid granules during rainy weather. With the new label changes to pyrethroid products what would be a substitute "rainy day service protocol" for a service technician to follow?

ANSWER:

Yes, the new EPA-mandated wording that will be going on ALL labels of ALL pyrethroid products as the manufacturers produce them this year has certainly thrown a monkey wrench into our gears. For those who may still be unaware of this, you can find the complete update on PestWeb in the "Industry / PestWeb Features" link on our home page. The new wording for Granular formulations of pyrethroids is short and to the point, as it now will say "Do Not make applications during rain". This doesn't leave much room for debate and interpretation. 

These new changes and restrictions on pyrethroid products' labels is for the purpose of minimizing the runoff of these active ingredients from properties they are applied to. Water that flows off a treated property could carry the active ingredient into the local gutters to storm drains to local creeks, and pyrethroids are fairly toxic to some aquatic organisms. We must be sure we adhere to the new wording, and this restriction on application during rainfall is not the only one. Please read the Label of the product you purchase each time you purchase it to see when you are now buying material with the new wording. Otherwise, you can use the product according to the Label on the package you purchase, meaning "old" stock can be used as labeled. 

There are almost no great substitutes for the pyrethroid granules with respect to their uses and label allowances. About half of the granular non-pyrethroid products are labeled only for turf or ornamental pests. Several are Restricted Use Pesticides. Several are designed primarily as bait products and thus have limited pests they will control. To be very honest, my review of the alternate granular contact insecticides just now came up with a grand total of 1 - no, sorry, no zeroes to follow. That one product is Essentria G from Envincio, formerly called EcoExempt G Granular, which still lingers in stock. 

Essentria G contains clove oil and thyme oil and is a 25-B Exempt insecticide, so it should be quite acceptable to customers, including in any "Green" programs. It is generally labeled for use on many crawling pests around both residential and commercial structures and has no restrictions with respect to rainfall or impending rain. 

So, when it is raining what options do you have for treating regular customers? The pyrethroid products other than granules also have the "not during rain" restriction, so you cannot just switch to spraying the foundation instead. You may find plenty of non-pyrethroid concentrates that could be sprayed during a rain even, applying them to eaves or other exterior areas where the rain is not going to land on the treated surface and negate the active ingredient, but this may not work in many cases. We'll have to see how this plays out, but it may be that rainy days will become great opportunities to focus on exclusion efforts and closing off openings into the structure. 


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