Alternative Control

	For many years the Pest Control Industry treated termite infestations with toxic chemicals and poisonous gases. The industry accepted the use of these toxic compounds because it believed there was no alternative. Although inconvenient and costly, fumigation was the preferred method of termite control. Because few pest control companies knew anything about drywood termite biology or behavior, most pest control practitioners adhered to the belief that, "If I can see termites here and over there, they must be everywhere so I better fumigate."
The fumigation process uses highly toxic gases such as sulfuryl fluoride and methyl bromide. It relies on the assumption that these gases will permeate into all of the infested interstitial spaces. When the process was first developed fifty years ago, this was a safe assumption because of the building techniques in practice. Today, houses are built much tighter for energy efficiency. Thus, it is more difficult for the pest control practitioner to assure that the gas will actually permeate into the infested areas.
Fumigation can also be costly and inconvenient. When the pest control practitioner chooses fumigation the homeowner must find alternative lodging for several days. Temporary housing costs, security concerns, food and plant preparation, must be added to the cost of treatment. Pest control practitioners are now considering alternative treatments that do not require evacuation of the premises as part of the termite control management plans they recommend to their clients.
Today the pest control industry is more sensitive to the potential risks associated with the use of highly toxic control methods. We are now asking ourselves if the risks out weigh the benefit. What possible effects will the continued use of technologies such as fumigation pose to our water, air, land, and most important, our children? It is up to all of us, as members of the pest control industry, to offer the consumer alternatives to the conventional termite control methods. With new techniques at our disposal, we can now offer our clients a new generation in termite control.