Though we often encourage children to "go out and play," exposure to common lawn / garden care and indoor pesticides is identified by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) as potentially causing a range of health problems, including asthma, hyperactivity and behavior problems, cancer, learning disabilities, reproductive disorders, and compromised brain development.
Rather than stifling healthy activity in children, you can make healthier choices in pest control!
What to Do
- Avoid unsafe chemicals indoors and outdoors – only use non-toxic, pesticide-free products. Also, instruct caregivers about the hazards of pesticides and talk to offsite school or daycare centers about pest management practices. You can also try some simple remedies to eliminate pests.
- Prevent pests through good sanitation and food storage habits, and by preventing their entry structurally. See the checklist for prevention techniques.
- Remove shoes and wash hands immediately after playing outside to prevent the estimated 70 percent of dirt (which contains chemicals) that can be tracked indoors.
- Use these resources to help you make wise decision:
Safety Checklist
- Seal all cracks, and apply caulking to outdoor plumbing and electrical outlets
- Install door sweeps
- Use (or fix holed) window screens
- Manage outdoor lights to prevent insects' gathering
- Eliminate moisture problems in walls, ceilings, and around the home’s foundation
- Install and maintain vents, vapor barriers, fans, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, piping, and appliances that will keep the home dry
- Properly store all food
Safe Solutions
Many pesticides are volatile. That means that they volatilize – or become gaseous. This allows the pesticides to drift throughout the application area to eliminate pests. But this also means that they can contaminate all surfaces in a home.
Simple remedies to eliminate pests:
- For ants, you can sprinkle red chili powder, paprika or dried peppermint (or its essential oil) where the ants are entering. For outdoor pets, place their food bowl within a larger bowl of soapy water.
- For fleas, feed your pet brewer’s yeast in powder (mixed in food) or tablet form.
- For ants, termites, lice, fleas, spiders or roaches, mop or spray floors with Borax. It’s poisonous if ingested, so store and use carefully.
- For ants and fleas, mix 4 oz of a natural soap in 1 gallon of water and spray as needed. Or sprinkle powdered soap around your home’s foundation.
Find recommended pesticides in our marketplace.
More Information
Americans use more than a billion pounds of pesticides each year to combat pests. Keeping pests out will prevent the need to use pesticides. Generally, 90 percent of all insect infestations migrate into the home from the outside. Generally only fleas, pests living in store-bought products, cockroaches, mice, and certain ants are carried into the home.
The EPA emphasizes that children are at a greater risk than adults to be harmed by pesticides because their immune systems are still developing. Furthermore, children are uniquely vulnerable to pesticide exposure due to their behavior. They spend more time playing outdoors on the grass where pesticides are commonly applied, and also playing indoors on carpeting where lawn chemicals may have been tracked in and deposited. They’re also more likely to transfer toxins from hand to mouth and are more likely to be exposed to chemicals released in common items like flea collars.
The Green Guide's pest control reports on:
The Green Guide's Lawn Care Product Report
University of Pittsburgh's Center for Environmental Oncology Safer Alternatives for Pesticides (Pdf)
Washington Toxics Coalition's Indoor Pests factsheet
Women's Health and Environment Network Integrated Pest Management resources
Research
- In 2004, 71,000 children were involved in common household pesticide related poisonings or exposures according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
- Studies have shown that exposure to herbicides (weed killers) before the age of one appears to cause a four-fold increase in the risk of childhood asthma.
- A study sponsored by the National Cancer Institutes indicates that use of household and garden pesticides increases the risk of childhood leukemia by a factor of seven.
- A study conducted by the EPA found that the indoor air of households had at least five pesticides present, at concentrations more than ten times that found in outdoor air.
