Feb 25, 2010, 14:00 PM by Clark Pest Control Sacramento Office

Source: Sacramento Business Journal  

Green bugs

Clark Pest Control has become the first Sacramento pest control company to receive a "green" certification by the National Pest Management Association.

The QualityPro Green certification requires companies to adopt an integrated pest management program. First they have to inspect a site and try non-chemical measures, such as trimming bushes that harbor rodents or sealing cracks that let in moisture and ants. If that doesn't work, they can introduce low-toxicity pesticides. Conventional pesticides become a last resort, and they try to use as little as possible.

"At this point the QualityPro Green certification is geared to individual sites," said Darren Van Steenwyk, Clark's technical director. "We're looking to implement this inspection-based service on a companywide scale."

Pest-control firms typically use a handful of products regularly. Clark is looking at alternatives. "We're looking at going away from synthetic pyrethroids and moving towards a botanical product," Steenwyk said. Among the candidates: oils of clove, eucalyptus and thyme.

Pyrethroid exposure can make people's skin itch or burn, and large amounts (way more than a pest-controller would spray around your home) can cause convulsions or knock people out for a few days.

But even the harmless-sounding botanical extracts can have some drawbacks.

"Sometimes the smell may be a little overpowering," Van Steenwyk said. "The technology is definitely improving. But in certain circumstances they work, and in certain circumstances they don't work."

https://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/11/10/story16.html
 clamb@bizjournals.com | 916-558-7866

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