Simple Solutions to the Cockroach problem
While seeing some youtube videos yesterday I was repeatedly interrupted by HIT ads to kill cockroaches. The ads made the pesticide sound like a mother's best friend - it is not ! Some of the older ads are here and here, but new ads are on similar lines.
Study after study has found many pesticides used around the home have significant link with a range of diseases inlcuding asthma, parkinsons, and cancer.
Cockroaches cant live in your kitchen if they have no food or water. Especially at night, you can remove all food sources including trash. We put our trash bin out in the balcony.
If a cockroach finds its way to your house, I feel it is much better to kill cockroaches say with a chappal, than use insecticides. A special katori drain cover also discourages them from using the drains as a hiding space.
We store cooking and steel utensils used in our kitchens in open shelves, not walled in by cupboards. As the moisture from the utensils finds its way to cupboard crevices, especially the part where the cupboard door attaches itself. That is where cockroaches lay eggs.
A study on the ‘German cockroach’ (found in India as well) has found evidence that they had developed a cross-resistance to a range of powerful insecticides and may soon become nearly impossible to kill with chemicals of whatever kind.
In addition to what I suggested friends wrote in with this advice : Friend 1 : Alternate method to kill cockroach is mix boric acid powder+ aata+ sugar, 3:2:1 ratio. Kneed it well. Stick on walls near bin, undersink, drawers, humid area. Very effective, specially if dont want to use insecticide in kitchen. Must try!!
Boric acid is generally considered of low toxicity in small doses.
Friend 2 : 3 to 4 years back, we had a serious cockroach infestation in the kitchen. This was despite a clean kitchen.
We stationed a vacuum cleaner in the kitchen. Each morning the first task before starting work was to suck all possible roaches roaming around as soon as one saw them once the kitchen light was switched on. One would get a window of some 20 seconds post light being switched on before they ran away and hid. So such as many in 20 seconds was the deal.
In about 3 to 4 weeks, we 'flattened the curve' of their reproduction rate by increasing their death rate. In another about a month, all roaches were finished. Today we have not a single cockroach, in the house, and it's been free from this menace. This has been the case since 3 years. All cleaned up. No pesticide used.
The ingredients of cockroach bait (which is eaten by them resulting in death) are carcinogenic.
What Do the Regulators Say ?
United States Environmental Protection Agency's page entitled 'Pesticides' Impact on Indoor Air Quality' says that preliminary research shows widespread presence of pesticide residues in homes.
80 percent of most people's exposure to pesticides occurs indoors and that measurable levels of up to a dozen pesticides have been found in the air inside homes.
The source of pesticides in homes are products used to kill household pests (insecticides, termiticides and disinfectants) and products used on lawns and gardens that drift or are tracked inside the house.
The Act does not currently enable state governments to ban pesticides long-term. To address the harm done by pesticides on their territories, states should probably be able to permanently ban pesticides that are locally problematic. There is no provision within the Insecticides Act for the recall of existing stocks.
While seeing some youtube videos yesterday I was repeatedly interrupted by HIT ads to kill cockroaches. The ads made the pesticide sound like a mother's best friend - it is not ! Some of the older ads are here and here, but new ads are on similar lines.
Study after study has found many pesticides used around the home have significant link with a range of diseases inlcuding asthma, parkinsons, and cancer.
Cockroaches cant live in your kitchen if they have no food or water. Especially at night, you can remove all food sources including trash. We put our trash bin out in the balcony.
If a cockroach finds its way to your house, I feel it is much better to kill cockroaches say with a chappal, than use insecticides. A special katori drain cover also discourages them from using the drains as a hiding space.
We store cooking and steel utensils used in our kitchens in open shelves, not walled in by cupboards. As the moisture from the utensils finds its way to cupboard crevices, especially the part where the cupboard door attaches itself. That is where cockroaches lay eggs.
A study on the ‘German cockroach’ (found in India as well) has found evidence that they had developed a cross-resistance to a range of powerful insecticides and may soon become nearly impossible to kill with chemicals of whatever kind.
In addition to what I suggested friends wrote in with this advice : Friend 1 : Alternate method to kill cockroach is mix boric acid powder+ aata+ sugar, 3:2:1 ratio. Kneed it well. Stick on walls near bin, undersink, drawers, humid area. Very effective, specially if dont want to use insecticide in kitchen. Must try!!
Boric acid is generally considered of low toxicity in small doses.
Friend 2 : 3 to 4 years back, we had a serious cockroach infestation in the kitchen. This was despite a clean kitchen.
We stationed a vacuum cleaner in the kitchen. Each morning the first task before starting work was to suck all possible roaches roaming around as soon as one saw them once the kitchen light was switched on. One would get a window of some 20 seconds post light being switched on before they ran away and hid. So such as many in 20 seconds was the deal.
In about 3 to 4 weeks, we 'flattened the curve' of their reproduction rate by increasing their death rate. In another about a month, all roaches were finished. Today we have not a single cockroach, in the house, and it's been free from this menace. This has been the case since 3 years. All cleaned up. No pesticide used.
The ingredients of cockroach bait (which is eaten by them resulting in death) are carcinogenic.
What Do the Regulators Say ?
United States Environmental Protection Agency's page entitled 'Pesticides' Impact on Indoor Air Quality' says that preliminary research shows widespread presence of pesticide residues in homes.
80 percent of most people's exposure to pesticides occurs indoors and that measurable levels of up to a dozen pesticides have been found in the air inside homes.
The source of pesticides in homes are products used to kill household pests (insecticides, termiticides and disinfectants) and products used on lawns and gardens that drift or are tracked inside the house.
Exposure to pesticides may result in Irritation to eye, nose and throat; damage to central nervous system and kidney; and, increased risk of cancer.
Chronic exposure to some pesticides can result in damage to the liver, kidneys, and endocrine and nervous systems.
The Standing Committee on Agriculture in its report to the Lok Sabha has acknowledged that excessive use of pesticides has led to high levels of pesticide residues in food and animal feed, accumulation of dangerous persistent organic pollutants, possible increased rates of cancer, increased input costs of agriculture and farmers suffering a wide variety of adverse health effects from occupational exposure to pesticides. The Act does not currently enable state governments to ban pesticides long-term. To address the harm done by pesticides on their territories, states should probably be able to permanently ban pesticides that are locally problematic. There is no provision within the Insecticides Act for the recall of existing stocks.
Nice , true . Good one.
ReplyDelete