Who lives in a pineapple under the sea SpongBob square pants, absorbent and porous and yellow is he, SpongeBob square pants.
Well I’m told the song goes something like this and I like any other tech who services homes across America has heard this diddy a hundred times as they treat the house while little Bobby and Tabitha are enthralled with this popular little sea creature.
I bring this up because of a recent news item where a family was awarded $23.5 million dollars for ill effects from Dursban pesticide. This caught my attention one, because Dursban has been off the market for about 10 years and two, because investigators found traces of chlorpyrifos (Dursban & Diazonon) on the children’s toys and clothes that were found in the home. As the story turns out this suit was filed back in the 90’s and no pest control company was held responsible since the complex where this occurred had stopped the professional service and opted for their maintenance crew to service the units during much of the time the family affected lived there.
I don’t want to lose sight of the children and family to whom this happened and the lifetime of suffering they’ll endure. This terrible tragedy is something I can’t imagine but as I see it from my little prism of the world, it’s something that could and should have been avoided if people would just use something that’s not listed on any pesticide label that I read. COMMON SENSE.
I’m just a little blogger whose been around bug control for awhile now so I don’t expect that the pest control industry will institute my proposal but for the children’s sake let’s all at least consider these simple rules that apply not only to spraying but any technique or application method we use in our daily service.
SpongeBob Rules;
Don’t spray over any toy’s clothes or other such items.
Don’t spray near toilet tissue when either stacked in a corner or the paper is hanging near the floor.
Don’t spray above your head when drift may float back down onto household items.
Never spray around blankets or pillows.
Flea work requires a clutter free floor, never treat around toys or play things.
Gel baits should never be placed where kids can touch them.
Kids are curious but just like pets they don’t need to be hanging all over the bug man while he or she is treating.
Dusts belong in voids, don’t dust carpets, baseboards or overhead if the dust will remain exposed and have any chance of the children
contacting it.
Toys are kept in the oddest places, make sure to spot them and steer clear or pick them up.
Should you accidentally get pesticide on a toy- wash it, throw it away or BUY it but never adopt the ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ philosophy!
Ants get in cribs and that’s not good, pesticides in cribs are worse.
Rodenticides MUST be secure and put only where rats or mice can get to them.
Toys outside are just as susceptible as those inside.
If you have any rules that you’d like to add please feel free and I’ll gladly list them here. While I’m not a fan of some adults I meet or know there aren’t any kids that I’d ever want to hurt or adversely affect with my pesticide applications. It doesn’t matter if you do green service, IPM or just use a fly swatter can we just watch out for the kids? Remember the SpongeBob song I sang at the beginning? “Absorbent & Porous” should clue you in that kids and their toys need not come in contact with ANY pesticide ever and it’s up to us to make sure this happens.
