Termite Control: Companies that use safe chemicals

[kitjohnson]

We're just laying for the foundations for our house, and it's time to think about termite treatment. The contractor recommended a company, who I just researched, and it turns out they use "chlordano", which is another name for chlordane. This has been banned in Thailand since 2000, yet this company still uses it. Unbelievable…nearly. TIT.

 

Does anyone have advice for effective termite treatment which can be laid during the construction of the house. I'm looking for recommendations of specific chemicals, treatments, or companies that offer these (in the Bangkok area).

[Oxx]

No need to pump potentially dangerous chemicals into the soil.  Use the Sentricon system.  If there's an existing termite infestation it takes a few weeks to eradicate the termites completely, but after that it's very effective.  At least, that's been my experience over the last three years.  Many companies in the Bangkok area offer it.

[JAS21]

We have used GBO Environmental Services Ltd ... apparently told my wife that they use 'something' that isn't all that dangerous ... now she tells me!

 

She just contacted GBO and they said they use   เอฟโปรนิล ..... think that maybe a variant by googling! Name translates to Fipronil

 

[Oxx]

27 minutes ago, JAS21 said:

they use 'something' that isn't all that dangerous

 

Fipronil is highly toxic to fish, aquatic invertebrates and bees. It's believed to be one of the main chemical causes of colony collapse disorder among bees. In animals and humans, poisoning is characterised by vomiting, agitation, and seizures.

[JAS21]

Yes I'll definitely try to avoid eating it ... When they come spraying and pumping we all go across the road anyway

 

Quote from ...  npic.orst.edu/factsheets/fipronil.htm

Direct, short-term contact with skin can result in slight skin irritation. When individuals have eaten fipronil, reported health effects included sweating, nausea, vomiting, headache, stomach pain, dizziness, weakness, and seizures. 

 

http://www.syix.com/emu/html/sentricon.html    an interesting read!!

[madmax2]

On 11/17/2016 at 11:38 AM, Oxx said:

No need to pump potentially dangerous chemicals into the soil.  Use the Sentricon system.  If there's an existing termite infestation it takes a few weeks to eradicate the termites completely, but after that it's very effective.  At least, that's been my experience over the last three years.  Many companies in the Bangkok area offer it.

Sounds like a system they use in Australia which uses poison baits to attract the termites

Actually i do not think there are any safe chemicals used here, Just ones that are banned

in other countries like the USA and they are getting rid of their stocks of chemicals which

cannot be sold in their own country

Common practice by the big chemical producing countries to use developing countries to

sell their banned stock and turn a loss into a profit

Most modern houses have little or no wood in them so no need for chemical sprays

Only wood in our home is the built in cupboards, i just drilled a few holes into the bases of

them and use termite spray in a pressurize can bought from the supermarket, works

really well, no termite problem 

[kitjohnson]

On 20/11/2016 at 10:38 AM, madmax2 said:

Sounds like a system they use in Australia which uses poison baits to attract the termites

Actually i do not think there are any safe chemicals used here, Just ones that are banned

in other countries like the USA and they are getting rid of their stocks of chemicals which

cannot be sold in their own country

Common practice by the big chemical producing countries to use developing countries to

sell their banned stock and turn a loss into a profit

Most modern houses have little or no wood in them so no need for chemical sprays

Only wood in our home is the built in cupboards, i just drilled a few holes into the bases of

them and use termite spray in a pressurize can bought from the supermarket, works

really well, no termite problem 

 

Thank you very much for the advice.

 

We found out that the company actually uses Bifenthrin, which is a pesticide currently used on crops in the USA, according to what I've read on Wikipedia and elsewhere. It was banned in the EU for a while but the ban was lifted. It seems safe enough to me. But I'm still a bit concerned…why does the information on the website (i.e. using a banned substance) contradict the information on the quotation/sales contract (nice and safe substance)? I can't believe that the website is 16 years out of date (Chlordane being banned in Thailand in 2000).

 

We have very little wood planned for this house. Only the staircase treads will be wood, plus whatever furniture we use. The kitchen will be built of bricks and concrete, so just the doors that could potentially be wood.

 

Perhaps we should just get the contractor to lay some plastic pipes (he said about 10k to do this) and not actually fill them with any pesticide yet, or ever, if we never have a termite problem.

 

This beats the 50k quote from the company that advertises use of banned chemicals, and has the advantage that we're not actually using any pesticides until if and when it's necessary.

 

Building a house…all the decisions you make seem so very permanent.

[madmax2]

The same poison used in crack and crevice  spray sold in supermarkets in pressurized cans is also available in hardware stores in 4 litre cans of liquid, get the builder to paint all your show timber with it before applying the timber finish its clear when dry, it kills and repels all types of ants, cockroaches etc and you will not have to apply it again if you do not sand back the timber and refinish it 

 

WE used it on our eves and patio which have a show timber finish as recommended by the painter that did the job

[kitjohnson]

On 21/11/2016 at 2:16 PM, madmax2 said:

The same poison used in crack and crevice  spray sold in supermarkets in pressurized cans is also available in hardware stores in 4 litre cans of liquid, get the builder to paint all your show timber with it before applying the timber finish its clear when dry, it kills and repels all types of ants, cockroaches etc and you will not have to apply it again if you do not sand back the timber and refinish it 

 

WE used it on our eves and patio which have a show timber finish as recommended by the painter that did the job

 

Sounds good. Can you recommend any specific brands or products?

[madmax2]

14 hours ago, kitjohnson said:

 

Sounds good. Can you recommend any specific brands or products?

I cannot remember the name of it but hardware and paint stores would know what its called

The 4 litre can has the same pictures on it of ants and creapy crawlies as the supermarket spray can

[Sphere]

This one.....?

 

[Oxx]

1 hour ago, Sphere said:

This one.....?

 

 

I'm not sure that falls into the category of "safe to use".  The manufacturer's data sheet:  http://www.sherwood.co.th/msds_en/Chaindrite_Stedfast_30_SC.pdf

 

The active ingredient, bifenthrin, is a suspected human carcinogen (it causes tumours in mice), and was banned in Europe.

[madmax2]

6 hours ago, Oxx said:

 

I'm not sure that falls into the category of "safe to use".  The manufacturer's data sheet:  http://www.sherwood.co.th/msds_en/Chaindrite_Stedfast_30_SC.pdf

 

The active ingredient, bifenthrin, is a suspected human carcinogen (it causes tumours in mice), and was banned in Europe.

You do not spray it on you paint it on

Use a mask and gloves, no bits have fallen of anyone and no one has got sick that i know who have used it

I will use it again when necessary and i have also used it on wooden furniture

Just about everything is bad for you or kills you in this world until the experts change there minds

[kitjohnson]

Thank you Sphere for finding the picture, and thank you Oxx very much for finding the regulatory information. That's really helpful.

 

On 23/11/2016 at 9:58 AM, Oxx said:

 

I'm not sure that falls into the category of "safe to use".  The manufacturer's data sheet:  http://www.sherwood.co.th/msds_en/Chaindrite_Stedfast_30_SC.pdf

 

The active ingredient, bifenthrin, is a suspected human carcinogen (it causes tumours in mice), and was banned in Europe.

 

Bifenthrin is what I mentioned earlier. It was banned in Europe but then re-introduced. It is routinely used in the USA on corn crops, if the information on toxipedia is accurate.

 

I was interested in what exactly "class C" carcinogen means, so I read info by the American Cancer society :

 

Quote

 

Group A: Carcinogenic to humans

Group B: Likely to be carcinogenic to humans

Group C: Suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential

Group D: Inadequate information to assess carcinogenic potential

Group E: Not likely to be carcinogenic to humans

 

 

On the same page I find that alcohol and processed meat are in group A. Red meat is in group B.

 

For me Befenthrin seems safe enough to put on the ground under my house. But it's started to make me re-think the advantages of eating organic food.

[Oxx]

1 hour ago, kitjohnson said:

I was interested in what exactly "class C" carcinogen means, so I read info by the American Cancer society :

On the same page I find that alcohol and processed meat are in group A. Red meat is in group B.

For me Befenthrin seems safe enough to put on the ground under my house. But it's started to make me re-think the advantages of eating organic food.

 

I think a point you may be missing is that bifenthrin is in class C because there isn't yet conclusive evidence that it's a human carcinogen.  We know it's carcinogenic in rodents and so almost certainly is in humans, but there hasn't been the relevant research for humans.  That means it's classified as a probable human carcinogen.

 

In the case of alcohol and meat there's been a lot of research done, so the evidence is clear, hence the more risky classification.

 

This does not mean that bifenthrin is less dangerous than alcohol or meat, but that the research hasn't (yet) been performed.  That (actually quite serious) element of doubt would personally make me want to avoid the product.

[kitjohnson]

On 24/11/2016 at 0:07 PM, Oxx said:

 

I think a point you may be missing is that bifenthrin is in class C because there isn't yet conclusive evidence that it's a human carcinogen.  We know it's carcinogenic in rodents and so almost certainly is in humans, but there hasn't been the relevant research for humans.  That means it's classified as a probable human carcinogen.

 

In the case of alcohol and meat there's been a lot of research done, so the evidence is clear, hence the more risky classification.

 

This does not mean that bifenthrin is less dangerous than alcohol or meat, but that the research hasn't (yet) been performed.  That (actually quite serious) element of doubt would personally make me want to avoid the product.

 

Thanks very much, Oxx. That's informative. I guess when the facts are laid out it comes to a personal decision about what you consider to be a reasonable or unreasonable health risk.