Do Your Research if You Plan to Fumigate Your House

Does your house have fleas, mites, termites or ants and your pets are complaining and perhaps you are considering inviting a pesticide company to fumigate the house?

There are definite risks, especially if you or your family or your pets have any kind of susceptibility to chemicals which might trigger a powerful auto-immune response. Here is one woman’s nightmare story – she had a fumigation company apply a flea spray and she ended up in hospital. After learning the pesticide was responsible, she eventually went to the EPA and was horrified to find other nightmare stories like her own:

    “The EPA’s eighty-two-page report about the pesticide used in our house showed that from 1992 until early 2010, 156 “minor” human incidents were reported to the agency concerning the product, as well as 24 “moderate” and 515 “major” human incidents.”

Now I don’t believe in being alarmist but if your family is susceptible, I would recommend you do three things: first, ask the fumigation company what chemicals they plan to use, including alternatives and a summary of reported side effects (they may be unaware of them), then research those chemicals on the web.

The second thing to do is to be prepared to leave the house for an entire week in such a way that it can air properly. Third, if you have carpet, consider getting rid of it. Some years ago we ripped up our carpet and discovered original oak wood floors. The improvement in air quality after that was significant and noticeable. However, we made one mistake: we had an oil-based polyurethane sealant put down when we should have used a water-based one. The chemical attack drove us out of the house. The oil-based ones are now illegal.

Finally, be careful not to inadvertently poison your pets (or your family for that matter) with potentially hazardous treatments. Here is a useful overview and here is a list of flea and tick products for pets.

Photo credit: Wikipedia - Matthew Field