Mar 25, 2012 – Could 1 + 1 = None

QUESTION:

Can a store bought pesticide, such as Raid, contaminate a product like Tempo SC?

ANSWER:

I can take your question two different ways Dominick. You may be asking if applying one near or over the other could cause a problem or you could be asking if keeping them together in storage could cause a problem. This second option is easier to answer. 

If the containers of both products are in good condition there should be no issues of contamination. But, if the Raid (aerosol) can is leaking or rusted and liable to leak then it certainly is going to lose its contents into the immediate area. If you have that leaking can on the shelf with other stored materials then there is that chance that the contents could get on to other things. Now, if the container of the Tempo SC is also in good condition then even a leaking aerosol can next to it should have no effect on the contents of the Tempo SC. The bigger problem would be if you had rodent or insect baits near a leaking container of a liquid or an aerosol, and the leaked materials got onto that bait. This definitely would give the bait on off-taste that might make it unacceptable to the insect or rodent. 

If your question is whether someone spraying raid over the top of your application of Suspend could contaminate the active ingredient in your product to the point it does not work well, the answer would be........... maybe. The concern would most likely be whether that aerosol product would create such a repellency that bugs would no longer walk onto your treated area, and since so many retail aerosols contain pyrethrum, which can be very repellent, this could happen. Pyrethroids by themselves may be repellent to very sensitive insects like ants and bed bugs, so adding some pyrethrum to the pyrethroid may not have much more of an effect. Either the bugs will readily walk on it or they won't. 

I don't see this as an issue in the sense that spraying a store-bought aerosol is going to affect the active ingredient that you put down. However, even though these a.i.'s are relatively low in toxicity, putting one on top of the other, perhaps multiple times, starts to add to the toxic makeup of the material on that surface. It would be good advice to ask your customers to please avoid using their own insecticides after you have treated their home. If they just cannot stand the sight of some bugs still crawling over that surface, since our products are not laser beams that instantly kill the bugs, then they could remove the bugs with a vacuum. 


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