"Flying" into Summer?

Summer’s almost here, and by the time it comes, most of us are thinking barbecues and garden parties, sun screen and skimpy frocks, floppy hats and footwear, and a host of other fabulous individual things that represent for each and every one of us, the very best bits of summer.     

But the happy sunshine season also brings pestilence in the form of BUGS - wasps, flies, mosquitoes and other insects - that worry or annoy us in various degrees.  The ads on the telly start early, planting the seed that we need be ready to deal with summer pests before they even dare to set wing or crawly foot inside our homes. So the supermarkets gird their loins and brace themselves for the inevitable landslide of people waving money at them for bug spray. 

But what are they buying?  Yes, okay, a pest destructing, bug-busting device in an aerosol can, and there is no doubt whatsoever that it works.  We've all seen flies in their fizzing death throes on the windowsills or bashing at the glass in a vain attempt to get out as their bodies become paralyzed mid flight.  I find it hard to tolerate wasps, flies and other flying/crawling threats to my environment myself, but the idea of condemning them to an agonized death with chemicals is an uncomfortable one for me, and not only because I believe that no living creature deserves to die in agony.  I also know – beyond all doubt – that an aerosol of fly spray, while quick and effective – is potentially lethal to human and pet health too.  Some of the documented effects are almost too horrible to describe.

But, bug-busters, please bear with me while I try. 

The main active ingredient in most of the mainstream bug sprays available from supermarkets is a chemical called Permethrin, a strong synthetic pesticide, which can cause dangerous symptoms in humans with prolonged or excessive exposure. It is is also used to treat human head and body lice, keep crops pest-free and protect animals from ticks and fleas.  The chemicals kill insects by blocking the transmission of messages in the nervous system. The human nervous system is less susceptible to these chemicals both because of our larger size and because humans and many other mammals have detox mechanisms to help rid the body of these chemicals. However, recent studies indicate that prenatal and infant exposure may lead to cognitive and developmental problems later on.

Low-level exposure is (apparently?) not generally an issue, but ingestion and inhalation of large amounts of this substance can be dangerous.  When it comes into contact with the skin, it produces a burning and tingling sensation. If it enters the eyes, Permethrin generally causes an intense burning. In such cases, experts recommend repeated washing of the eyes for a full 30 minutes after exposure and seeking medical attention. Ingestion of this chemical is associated with severe abdominal symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting, and inhalation can cause respiratory distress and coughing. Prolonged exposure can have different poisoning symptoms than acute exposure. Those who work with this chemical on a daily basis sometimes begin to experience neurological symptoms with side effects such as tremors, headaches and a tingling sensation in the fingers and toes. If exposure persists, more severe neurological effects, such as memory loss and/or seizures, can occur. Proper precautions, such as the use or respiratory masks and hazard suits, should be taken by all of those who regularly exposed to Permethrin, and that’s all well and good, but the average householder running around with a can of fly spray doesn't usually think about such precautions.  The rationale is that it’s a quick burst of spray.  But whether that constitutes a little or a lot of exposure is debatable, depending on the volume and frequency, and we run the risk of making potentially life-threatening assumptions about individual tolerance levels of different sized humans and animals who stand to be affected by the toxic effects.  In the distant past, as I’m seriously arachnophobic, I've sprayed what some might regard as an excessive amount of bug spray at a spider and almost choked to death at roughly the same speed as I felt my eyeballs being singed and stripped of their membranes.  If I’d persevered with doing that every day, or even just once a week, every week for however many years, maybe I’d be dead by now, or suffering from some irreversible form of neurological damage.  It doesn't bear thinking about.

Although they are modelled on the naturally occurring pyrethrin which is found in chrysanthemum flowers, synthetic pyrethroids are more toxic to animals and humans, and much longer-lasting in the environment.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that permethrin, as one member of the pyrethroid class in particular, is likely to be carcinogenic to humans. Young children are particularly at risk as they are in constant contact with surfaces that may have been treated and frequently put their hands in their mouths. People can also absorb the chemicals through the skin while bathing a pet or from lice shampoos.

Putting pyrethroids to one side for a moment, bug sprays contain other powerful toxins too, such as DICHLOROVOS, which has been found to contain carcinogenic properties, and various other organophosphate compounds which, through a specific chemical process, cause the flying creature’s muscles to “lock up”, thereby paralyzing its ability to breathe or fly.  As humans, we inhale it and repeated use of it enables the toxic chemicals to accumulate in our body, and the jury is still well and truly out as to whether our biological systems really ARE capable of breaking them down and successfully eliminating them.  So without knowing that we can, why take the gamble? And even if we knew we could, what have our poor little livers done to deserve such a vicious attack?  Why would we put our bodies through a process which is not only potentially life threatening, but completely unnecessary?

There’s also an ongoing debate about whether exposure to fly spray and other home and garden pesticides significantly increases the chance of contracting Parkinson’s disease, which is incurable and neurologically degenerative.  Parkinson's occurs due to a loss of nerve cells in the brain, and the symptoms emerge when around 70% of cells have been lost.  While it’s not known why these nerve cells die, research suggests that people exposed to insecticides in the home are 70 percent more likely to develop Parkinson's than those who have not been exposed.  That’s a pretty high percentage.  And, while no specific guidelines regarding avoidance of pesticides can be given, we do have to acknowledge that this is an area of public health importance that needs to be pursued with additional studies to either underpin or refute its findings, because it’s about human and animal health, and few things are more serious, in reality.  

There is also evidence to suggest that the use of insecticides produces various nerve problems and leukaemia.  A study conducted in the USA in 2002 (read about it here) showed that the use of professional pest control during prenatal or the first three years of a child’s life was at least twice as high for families whose children had leukaemia compared to families of healthy children. Overall, children with leukaemia were almost three times as likely to have been exposed at one of those points compared with healthy children. That is really scary.

So, on lots of levels, there is deeply serious concern about the use of pesticides around children.  One particularly hideous case was that of a newborn baby boy in Spain, who lived with his family in a house with a severe cockroach infestation. The mother used a full litre bottle of bug spray every other day, to try to keep the bugs under control. The father worked in an orchard as a fruit fly fumigator and was careful to change his clothes before he came home from work. The baby boy was born with his bladder outside his body, rather than inside it, and his blood tested positive for Permethrin, the horror we’ve already talked about here. This incredibly nasty substance mimics estrogen in developing female babies and works as an anti-testosterone in developing male babies. When an embryo is exposed to chemicals in this class during the fifth to seventh weeks of pregnancy, the "plumbing" of the urogenital tract fails to form.  The bladder can remain outside the body, and the genital organs may be replaced by an open cavity, even when the child is genetically male. Baby girls can develop normal external genitalia but may suffer reproductive failure later in life.

Most of us adore our cherished pets.  We need to remember that they can’t tell us if they are suffering, they simply have to hope that we notice, and if we’re really busy we may not, straight away.  Insecticides of all kinds, including aerosol bug sprays, are desperately dangerous to pets, including fish, since the sprayed substance floats on top of the water and leaches poison into it. Although dogs can to some degree detoxify these chemicals, cats are more susceptible and can suffer tremors, twitching, convulsions and even death, if pyrethroid-containing products designed to rid them of their own parasites are misused or over-used.  Birds don’t stand much of a chance at all, since their bodies, lungs and membranes are so small and fragile.

And here’s another little nugget: in addition to all this, spraying fly spray in a poorly ventilated area renders the atmosphere explosive, and there are documented cases of people having incinerated their homes by using heavy amounts of fly spray and then having an innocuous spark (e.g. from a computer or light bulb) act as a detonator.  It’s a rare phenomenon, obviously, as there would otherwise be more general knowledge about it, but the fact that it happens at all raises serious questions about the sensibility of having something with that kind of capability in the house, particularly when there are safe and easy alternatives.

So given all of the above, do we seriously want to run this kind of risk, simply to get rid of a few flies? My answer is no.

The other worrying thing that tends to fly under the radar of most people is the fact that empty aerosol cans of bug spray are classifiable as hazardous waste.   Such items can't be thrown in the garbage or down the drain -- the residue just ends up in a river, or other mainstream waterway. And if you're on septic tanks, those chemicals can kill the good bugs in your tanks that effectively process your septic waste. Even if it ends up in a landfill, pesticide can leach out and find its way into drinking water supplies. Burying hazardous waste is also inadvisable, unless you want to turn your garden into a toxic waste dump, especially if you unwittingly combine certain chemicals that have the potential to create an explosive or corrosive compound.  The typical household accumulates, over time, bug spray, drain cleaner, old paint, used motor oil, swimming or spa pool chemicals, old lighter fluid, nail polish and remover, old batteries, rat poison, unused electronic items, compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), and dozens of other ordinary consumer products that are hazardous to people and the environment.  Most of us do accumulate toxic and hazardous material simply by just shopping like ordinary people, and as yet some of it cannot be realistically avoided, so how we use and dispose of it all is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with responsibly.  The easiest and safest solution for the disposal of toxic waste is to gather it up and take it to your local hazardous waste disposal centre every few months. And, obviously, exploring the safer options that currently are available for certain hazardous products makes more sense from the outset.

Flies and bugs are usually in a habit of living and nesting in unhygienic conditions. Keeping your home and the outside area clear of any decaying or rotting material will make a huge difference to the amount of pests that are attracted to your environment. Any leftover food which could decompose should be disposed of quickly.  It can be composted or recycled in whatever other way is possible in line with your council’s recycling policies.  Tea Tree oil combined with water and sprayed around doors and windows can deter spiders, ants and other crawling insects from making an entrance or hanging around.  Fresh basil, bay leaves, lavender and mint grown in pots within the home can repel flying insects.   Plastic soft drink bottles with the tops off, half filled with a solution of sugar and water and placed on windowsills where wasps and fruit flies tend to hang out, will attract them and they will drown in the solution. Sticky fly paper is environmentally friendly, and so are small household electric "insectocutors", which entice files to them to be instantly electrocuted.  If you're big into plants, a Venus Flytrap can be a godsend.  If you have bees in your house, make every effort to guide them back into the garden, or leave windows open to enable them to find their own way out, as these little workhorses are our greatest environmental allies. It’s also possible, for a small but worthwhile long term investment, to get some insect screens for your doors and windows so you can enjoy the fresh air without the creepy crawlies.  Remember though, that not all crawlies are obnoxious. Some do add good value to your home.  As much as I hate spiders, those who can tolerate them are advised to let them be.  I can't believe I'm saying that, but I have to be honest about it.  For the most part, ugly and disgusting and terrifying as I find spiders to be, they are our household friends. 

When it comes to pets, there are less toxic treatments and chemical-free care products available to help you manage issues with fleas, ticks, mites and skin problems and you can use a flea comb to remove fleas.  Using pesticides really ought to be a last resort. With any pesticide, it’s critical to read package labels, follow the instructions to the letter, and use the least amount possible. Although cats are susceptible to pyrethroids, the chemicals are still used in cat treatments, so do read the labels before you buy anything.  Online sites offer great alternatives (such as this one here).

If you need professional help to safely eliminate household pests, try googling green providers who can offer a chemical free or low-risk solution.

You CAN protect your family – all of its members – by giving some real thought to what you purchase in your efforts to eliminate pests this summer.  The pesticides so cheaply available on the supermarket shelves are an effective "quick-fix", but at what long-term cost?