by Linda Mason Hunter

June 8, 2000
The United States Environmental Protection Agency today banned one of the most common home, lawn, and garden pesticides, citing an unacceptable health risk, particularly to children. By the end of the year 2000 the insecticide, chlorphyrifos (or Dursban), a common ingredient in bug killers, will no longer be manufactured for home use. Its use in agriculture, however, will continue.

Dursban has been widely used for more than 30 years in agriculture and in products sprayed by exterminators and homeowners, according to an article in The New York Times. The article cites more than a dozen kinds of Raid sprays, some Hartz flea collars, and Black Flag liquid roach and ant killer as a few of the common products containing the hazardous ingredient.

The EPA signed an agreement with six manufacturers that will allow them to continue using the chemical on many crops, but will limit the application on apples, grapes, and tomatoes, and eliminate it entirely for almost all uses around homes, schools, and day care centers. Store shelves will continue stocking products containing chlorpyrifos until the end of 2001. However, EPA chief Carol Browner is encouraging retail stores to voluntarily ban the product.

If your home contains this pesticide (you should call the manufacturer of the product if you're not sure since the ingredient is not required to be listed on the label), call your local health department to find out the recommended means of disposal. The best way to avoid an infestation of indoor pests is to simply clean up, don't leave food or dirty dishes in the kitchen, remove standing water, plug cracks. If you do these things, you probably won't need to spray.

© 2007 Green Home, Inc.