jpl1nh
Minister of Fire
Hahaha, woodchuck eh? My biggest problem is mice which makes my beagle Ziggy start pulling logs out of my neatly stacked cords with his teeth trying to get to the mice. He totally collapsed a full cord stack this summer doing that!CountryBoy19 said:jpl1nh said:Good point regarding people being scared silly about stuff. I don't mean to suggest they should be scared but only exercise a healthy understanding and respect for toxic products. As you point out, it degrades relatively quickly and does not leave toxic by products. It is potentially most harmful before it degrades though it is poorly absorbed through the skin and evenly quickly broken down in the gut if swallowed, not that I want to drink it. If you get it on your skin and wash quickly, it should not be an issue. As for it's potential carcinogenic properties, none of us will ever really know if we develop cancer, what substances might have helped bring about the genetic mutations that over time lead down that path. Considering that one of the most common and potent carcinogens we know of is sold in every corner store and consumed widely by about 20% of the population everyday, that being cigarettes, the issue of concern of getting cancer from permethrin is laughable! In general, just better to minimize whatever possible exposures that you can. Chemically, permethrin is in the same class of compounds as pyrethrin. But it and all the other synthetic pyrethroids are not actually the same chemical structure as pyrethrin, they are close but permethrin for example has two benzyl groups as opposed to pyrthrin's one and has two chlorine atoms attached at one end where pyrethrin has none. Not to say that natural pyrethrin is better. The term "natural" drives me crazy because it always seems to imply healthy and "green" but.. All of these products are natural; mercury, lead, heroin, arsenic, radon, cyanide, but they certainly aren't good for you.CountryBoy19 said:jpl1nh said:CountryBoy19 said:I typically spray the border around my wood-piles with Permethrin based Ant killer. Permethrin kills a large variety of bugs (insects & arachnids). I do it more of an "overall" insect control program rather than to target pest within the wood.
I spray permethrin around the house every 4-6 weeks to keep bug problems down. So far it has worked great. The wood piles get sprayed to just because they can harbor a lot of bugs.
While permethrin is a moderately safe pesticide for most mammels, it is highly toxic to cats and will easily kill them. The EPA classifies it as a likely carcinogen. Like virtually all chemical substances, there is potentially a hidden cost; weigh the benefit against the risk.
It's a good thing permethrin breaks down at high temperatures and exposure to UV light then isn't it?
The most harmful chemicals that could possibly be released would be chlorine compounds, which would be no worse than those compounds off-gassed by your swimming pool in the hot summer sun.
I'm not some hill-jack that's just wildly spraying chemicals all over the place; I'm licensed by the Office of the Indiana State Chemist to purchase and apply Restricted Use Pesticides. I know my chemistry, and I know my pesticides, and I've chosen permethrin as the safest pesticide possible for use around my house and on my wood-pile. The only concern would be cats, and I don't have any, and none of my neighbors have any so I'm gtg there.
BTW, a few permethrin facts for those that may think it is some big nasty "chemical".
Permethrin is the synthetic form of natural pesticides derived from the chrysanthemum family of plants. In laymans terms, for a long time we've been extracting oils from chrysanthemums (flowers) to use them to naturally kill insects. A chemist has figured out to to synthetically create that same exact oil at a much lower cost. When you use permethrin you're essentially using a synthesized version of a naturally occurring pesticide.
Permethrin is also used as a topical cream to treat scabies and other bug related skin problems on humans. Frontline plus and other flea/tick chemicals that are applied to your dogs are permethrin based.
Permethrin is impregnated into most military uniforms as a form of tick control.
Just fyi for anybody that isn't absolutely scared to death of every substance that has a "chemically sounding name" and might want to use it.
Exactly right. Permethrin is definitely not harmless and if I implied that then I didn't intend to do so. I was just trying to point out that relative to most pesticides it is much less harmful. Like I said in my first post, I don't apply it to the wood-piles to necessarily kill insects that are eating the wood etc. I apply as a part of my pest reduction regimen around the house. Ever since we moved here we've been fighting bugs really bad because I'm surrounding by a large field of weeds that the owner refuses to mow down occasionally. The bugs migrate onto our property and into our house. By spraying permethrin around the border of the house, and the border of the yard (where the wood piles are located) I have knocked the insect problem down by about 80% or more since I started my regimen. And if spraying near the wood stacks kills off any carpenter ants that think of venturing out beyond the wood stacks then that an added benefit.
Now if I can just get rid of the ground-hog that seems to think my wood pile is great shelter.
