Is Conventional Pest Control Safe for Your Pets, Family and Home?

When you have a pest infestation in your home, your first question is likely “how do I get rid of them?”. Not only can pests damage your property, rodents and insects can spread disease to you and your pets. But are the pest control measures themselves safe for use in the home? 

Is Conventional Pest Control Safe for Humans?

One of the biggest concerns for pest control is whether pest control is safe around humans. There are many concerns that conventional pest control options contain numerous toxins and poisons that can cause significant health problems.

Research has shown that pesticides can cause significant health issues with sore eyes, breathing problems and even an increased chance of cancer among some of the potential problems. Other research in the United States has found that the air quality inside your home can be significantly reduced when pesticides are used inside.

Pest control is generally safe for humans when strict application guidelines are followed. While the chemicals are designed to be toxic to pests, the concentrations used in and around the home are heavily diluted.

However, they are still pesticides and misuse or high-level exposure can pose health risks. The safety of a treatment largely depends on the chemicals used and proper application. If there is a non-toxic alternative, this is usually a better option.

Is Pest Control Safe for Pets?

The majority of homes in Australia have pets.This can cause significant concern when using pest control. Many pest control methods clearly warn that they should be kept away from pets and children.

This is a major problem. Pets, as well as children, don’t have the same awareness as adults. These chemicals can be quite dangerous to animals. If your pet consumes any rat bait, snail bait or other pesticides, that is an emergency vet trip. It isn’t just direct contact that can be a problem.

Pets can get secondary poisoning, which is via consuming a baited pest, for example a cat catching a mouse or rat that has consumed rat bait. Pets can also consume pesticides or other pest control chemicals during grooming. Chemical residue is picked up on the fur or paws of your pet and ingested while they are grooming themselves. Both types of exposure can make your pet quite sick.

Is Pest Control Safe for Dogs?

Dogs tend to be more at risk from pest control substances because of their general behaviour. Dogs use their noses and mouths to sniff out new smells and substances in their environment. Some dogs will eat almost anything, including droppings, ingesting bait directly or even dead animals.This can be a major problem. If a dog consumes anything that has been treated with chemical pest control, they can get very sick. This could happen acutely or repeated exposure over time.

Is it Safe to Stay Home After Professional Pest Control?

There are many different types of pest control substances that can be used, depending on the pest. However, regardless of the substance used, most companies who apply these recommend that you aren’t present during treatment or do not enter the home until the substance has completely dried.

This can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days, depending on the environmental conditions. Even after the pest control chemicals have dried, you mustn’t disturb them with heavy cleaning for several days.

Alternatives to Poison-based Pest Control

There are genuine concerns about pest control substances. Despite the concerns, pest control is important. Simply living with the pests isn’t a viable option. Let’s take a look at alternatives to pest control substances that you might want to use for your home and property.

Here are some of the alternatives to toxic pest control that you might want to use.

1. Environmental

The first thing that you need to do is to ensure that you don’t have an environment that is suitable for pests. Remove potential food and water sources and potential hiding/nesting locations. Keep areas dry as many species (like termites) prefer humid areas.

2. Ultrasonic Devices

Pests, like mice, rats and possums are deterred by high frequency noises that aren’t generally audible to humans but can be heard by the pests. This noise can startle these animals, or be uncomfortable for them to be around, causing them to move on from your home. 

Ultrasonic devices can be used throughout a home, or they can be something that can be used near access points. 

EnviroBug's ultrasonic pest repellers are chemical and toxin free. Our products utilise frequencies that pests dislike to prevent them from settling in your home.

3. Motion- Activated Devices

A motion-activated sprinkler is a good way to keep pests from coming close to your home. The EnviroBug Garden Sentinel Motion-activated animal sprinkler uses an infrared sensor to detect the body heat of animals and birds. Once triggered, it deploys a startling burst of water combined with unexpected noise and motion creating a safe, highly effective deterrent against all kinds of pests.

4. Close Access Points

It’s important that you seal access points to ensure there are no ways that pests can enter the home. For termites, this means eliminating any direct contact between the soil, timber and your home, as they easily use these structural bridges to march right inside.

For rodents and possums, close any gaps in the walls. Possums can make particular use of large holes in the walls of the building, especially near the roof cavity.

Final Word: Is Conventional Pest Control Safe for Your Pets, Family, and Home?

Is typical pest control safe for you? Some would argue it is, but there are a lot of safety instructions that you need to follow. Without following these guidelines strictly there is a higher risk of health concerns, such as sore eyes, skin irritation and other long-term health conditions. Non-toxic alternatives to pesticides and rat bait should be sought before pest control is used.

Using chemical free pest deterrent products, are a fantastic alternative, both health-wise and cost-wise, to typical chemical pest killing approaches. Humane alternatives are always the better choice; conventional pest control should only ever be treated as a last resort when an infestation has completely gotten out of hand.