A "WELL, DUH" MOMENT: PESTICIDES AREN'T SAFE FOR HUMANS

Back in May, I saw this article in the Washington Post by Sue Eisenfeld about the after-effects of having her home sprayed for fleas. I didn't post on it back then, even though it caught the eye of this avid ranter. Since it was recently posted again on the Washington Post's "Health & Science" page, I decided to post on it now.

I'll sum up the article for everyone, since it's an interesting but quite long read.

Ms. Eisenfeld's cat seemed to be having flea issues (excessive licking) that weren't resolved by "topical anti-flea drops", so her next step was to call the exterminator and sign up for a spray-based flea treatment. The floors and carpets were sprayed while she, her husband, and the cat were out of the house. When they returned, the residue from the spray was all over the floor. The exterminator company told her to just mop it up. The next day she had strange physical symptoms - headache, dizziness, stinging in arms and torso - and from there her symptoms just got worse and lasted for several weeks. After an investigation, she found that there's a very long EPA report on the toxicity of the chemicals used and that many others have experienced much of the same reaction she did.

The purpose of Ms. Eisenfeld's article is no doubt to warn us all that:

1. Exterminators don't always know what they're doing.
2. Just because warnings should be delivered about a pesticide, doesn't mean they will be.
3. Pesticide companies are often not our friends and will do whatever they can to fool you into thinking their products are safe.

But, that's not what I got out of it, probably because I already knew all of the above.

Here's what I got:

Before bombing your house for fleas, talk to your vet. Excessive licking can be caused by more than fleas, like allergies to environmental irritants or food. I know this from experience with my own cat. Would I ever call an exterminator to spray for fleas? NEVER, EVER, EVER!

I also decided that she hadn't used any common sense after choosing to have her house sprayed either. On page 2 of the article, Ms. Eisenfeld said she found the pesticide label online. Here's a clip of this section:

"What this told me was that the technician had not given me enough information. The label instructs users to cover all food-processing surfaces, utensils and exposed food prior to spraying. We hadn’t been told to do anything like that — to remove the dishes sitting out on our drying rack, to cover our cutting board or the fruit and vegetables on our counter.

The label directs pesticide applicators to avoid thoroughly wetting the surfaces being sprayed. Yet there had been those drops on the floor six hours later. It also says that the sprayed area should be ventilated after treatment. News to us."

You needed the technician from the exterminator company to tell you to put away your food and clean dishes, vent your house after the application, and then wipe down the counters where you prepare and serve food? Really?

Common sense says, if you have a toxic chemical sprayed in your house (and ALL pesticides not food or essential-oil derived fit into this category), you first put everything away and then wipe down all surfaces afterwards. Otherwise, you definitely run the risk of having happen to you what happened to Ms. Eisenfeld.

Here's a list of the possible side effects the chemical used in this case can produce (see page 3 of the article):

"Among the complaints in the moderate and major medical incidents were dizziness, difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, muscle weakness, tremors, abdominal pain, disorientation, stumbling, coma, seizure, liver failure, lethargy, numbness, blurred vision, chills, blood in the urine, memory loss, migraines, inability to walk and heart attack."

I'm not going to argue that consumers shouldn't be warned as to possible side effects of a pesticide. I do agree that companies that use and apply these chemicals should be required to inform their customers as to the dangers, before proceeding. As Sue Eisenfeld points out, most contractors, home sellers, and landlords are required to distribute information about lead paint and asbestos dangers. Exterminators and other service providers that apply toxic chemicals should be similarly required to provide warnings.

However, trusting that the exterminator or lawn care professional (sometimes Hazmat suit-wearing ones) will give you all necessary health warnings is naive at best. Besides pressuring chemical companies to come clean about the dangers they are exposing us to, we also need to arm ourselves with some common sense. That's the easiest way to avoid the "well, DUH" moment.

-- Statler, moderator