Tenants, West 112th

There are three things to be concerned about in terms of pesticides: toxicity level, carcinogens, and application method. The most dangerously toxic parts of pesticides are the inert ingredients (solvents, emulsifiers, etc.), not the chemical itself. The problem with these inert ingredients are that they stay in the environment after the roach spray is sprayed. The chemicals themselves are governed by FIFRA, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act of 1977, which deemed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) responsible for safety testing on all new pesticides introduced into the market after 1977. Problem is, prior to 1977, organophosphates were invented and still are used, and once sprayed, they have incredible staying power in our environment. See the Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, one of the first books to document the long-term harm of pesticides (including acid rain).

There is nothing conclusive at the moment about carcinogens in pesticides, but the EPA does carcinogenic testing as mandated by FIFRA by injecting pesticides into rats and seeing if tumors develop!?! In terms of application method, traditional roach sprayers spray onto the baseboards of an apartment or house, and use a lot of spray because they need to entice the roaches to come out of their hiding places and walk to their death. For more information, you can contact NYPIRG, the New York Public Interest Research Group, at 212.349.6460; NYCAP, the New York Coalition of Alternatives to Pesticides, at 518.426.4286; or, the Bio-Integral Resource Center at 510.524.2567.

There are people who do ecologically conscious exterminating. This would involve using chemicals with low toxicity, where the inert ingredients are gases that evaporate rather than stay in the environment. Chemicals are sprayed in target areas of cracks and crevices of the apartment structure so there is less discharge of chemicals into the air and the chemicals go straight to the roaches' nests. They would also be able to provide education on sanitation and structural problems in your building, if requested. Go through the yellow pages or search the Internet for ecologically conscious exterminators in your area.

Alice

Related Q&As

Do cockroaches carry contagion?