Spraying The House To Eradicate The Bugs Etc

[UKJASE]

hey guys, hope you are well.......

for the last few months we have pest control come to our house and do their thing to ensure that we dont have any ants in the house, plus they have done a once every 6 months treatment where they have drilled into the ground and pumped liquid in (to stop termites apparently), plus they will smoke around the outside to kill mosquitos if we ask

the treatment they do every month to kill the ants is where they spray a white milky liquid on the ground around the outside walls of our house, and then within the house in the kitchen area...... this liquid sits on the floor for an hour or two, and slowly evaporates..... it is very effective at keeping the ants out it seems

but i have worries about any health issues....... i dont speak much thai, and they dont speak any english, so i am unaware of what chemical(s) they are using..... they dont wear masks when spraying, but that is not to say there may be health issues

does anyone know what this white milky liquid will be? it has a bit of a smell, but not too much....... and what precautions we should take, if any, whilst they are spraying?

at the minute we put all food away, and all dishes and all tea towels etc, plus leave all doors and windows open after they have been, and leave bedroom doors closed....... but we do at the minute remain in the house after spraying, breathing in some fumes

should we be concerned??

[Briggsy]

My condo overlooks a moo bahn (housing estate) of a hundred or so houses and they do this to the whole moo bahn every few months. It disappears in a cloud of white smoke.

[lopburi3]

There is no white smoke involved in the normal ant/termite treatment (that would be the mosquito spraying). Not sure what the chemical is but we have done every other month and have not had to have underground treatment again (been many years). We leave the house during treatment to return after they are done and fire up all fans to clear air (find odor not so nice). Also cover dish and such prior to treatment. As said most workers do not use more than gaze mask; but not sure on life expectation - we have seen changes in personnel over the years.

[WilliamCave]

I looked at may contractors , then I decided to do it my self. Usually we go away for the weekend after I spray and allow the house to air out. I priced companies doing it and it is cheaper for me to do it. I use Chaindrite I get at thaiwatsusd and I bought the sprayer , I also have a full face mask with 3 M cartridges I got from working in the refineries so it is a good mask for spraying. I also found a MSDS on the product. U might consider doing it your self and then getting away for the weekend. Price is much cheaper me doing it and I am careful not to get it in the fish ponds and in other areas.

[ignis]

Number of things........... 1st 6 years had a Company come, well 2 different Companies, 1st one came every 3 months, last one came every month....

Take all 6 dogs upstairs and put in a different bedroom every time, yes everywhere covered in that milky stuff, 2 hours later washed all the floors and let the dogs out., then go outside and hose down all the paved and tiles areas before letting the dogs outside...

Woodworm appeared to love the stuff..... so changed Companies that came every months, all same as above, still woodworm loved the stuff.. one day almost at end of that years contract a new boy/young man came and did outside, now I have Fish tanks, I built myself years before using 6 x 6 timber hardwood posts and roof is tilled, this new boy sprayed all the wood post !! 2 days later over 300,000 baht worth of fish were dead..

oddly never had anyone back and 4 years on the woodworm is no worse than when everything was sprayed every month...

In the Village [63 detached houses] there was about 6 or 7 different Companies , now not one house has any Company come, we all say the same worst problem is woodworm and the spray did nothing to kill them.. rats and mice, snakes and Alligators.

Yes we have mosquito spraying done every 3 months, slip the man 40 baht he will come in and also sprays all round my house

​Found something that keeps Mosquitoes and incests away, cost 35 baht comes in a Jar, called Lavender Sand.. just put a little down in places every days around the house, 2 years on see very few Mosquitoes and incests.

So to answer the OP.... should we be concerned??.... it killed my Fish..

Edited February 2, 2013 by ignis

[TS79]

Sounds like Bifenthrin pesticide. If it is this it is a milky liquid that is diluted with water to approx 0.06% in water to take care of insects etc. It is highly toxic to fish but at the amount sprayed has low toxicity to humans and animals once dry.

See MSDS and application notes attached.

Bifenthrin Application Instructions.pdf

biftech.pdf

Bifenthrin_MSDS.pdf

[mrbojangles]

I think the smoke is probably the same as they do here in Saudi. They call it fogging here and I believe it's just Diesel, or a form of and doesn't actually kill the Mossies. I am told the reason for them doing it is that the diesel fumes settle on the ground and puddles etc. This film of diesel then stops the Mossies from breeding, as they can't penetrate the film to lay eggs in the water.

[Briggsy]

That would make sense. Mosquito eradication is usually focussed on prevention on breeding.

[Khonwan]

You cannot get a reliable answer to this question on a forum. There are many safe chemicals (safe for humans, not fish, birds, etc.) that can be used and I would expect the company to be choosing one of them…however, there are also dangerous and outlawed chemicals that a cowboy operator could use. Photograph the container label on their next visit and ask us again, or just Google the chemical. Personally, I would not allow anyone to spray any chemical around my house without first satisfying myself that it’s safe…especially here in Thailand.

[UKJASE]

thanks for advice guys.... i will get the name off the chemical off the guy next time and get googling