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Pesticide Exposure in Buildings InspectAPedia®  -     Health effects of exposure to pesticides in buildings Exposure to common pesticides used indoors including Dursban and Lorsban Are mothballs an indoor air quality or health concern? Suggestions for reducing indoor exposure to pesticides

Here we exposure to pesticides indoors and methods to reduce indoor pesticide exposure as a step in improving health and indoor air quality in homes. This article includes excerpts or adaptations from Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, by Steven Bliss, courtesy of Wiley & Sons.

Our page top photo shows an abandoned pesticide bottle found during a home inspection. When we find old pesticide containers indoors we caution home buyers that a previous owner may have been applying chemicals without proper expertise. Read the label and use pesticides as directed. See ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS - INSPECT, TEST, REMEDY for our full list of environmental hazard identification and remedy related to buildings

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, Steve Bliss, Wiley & Sons, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Pesticide Indoor Exposure Hazards & Health Effects

As stated in Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction:

Pesticides are a special class of organic chemicals designed to kill living organisms. In addition to the compounds used in the home and garden, the class of chemicals regulated as pesticides also include kitchen and bath disinfectants, flea and tick products, and swimming pool chemicals. In most cases, both the active ingredient targeted to one or more pests and the “inert” carriers are organic chemicals that are toxic to humans.

Studies indicate that up to 80% 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. Because of its widespread use for over 30 years, more than 80 percent of Americans already have traces of Dursban in their bodies, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Another study found Dursban in the carpet dust of 67 percent of homes surveyed.

Also, remember that a pesticide found “safe” to use today may be determined to be unsafe tomorrow. Chlordane, the most widely use termiticide for decades, was banned in 1988 because of its toxicity to humans and its persistence in the environment. It was largely replaced by Dursban (chlorpyrifos), an organophosphate. Dursban became the most widely used pesticide in the United States until it was phased out starting in 2000, along with the popular pesticide diazinon, because of the risks they posed to humans, especially to the growth and nervous system development of children.

Health Effects of Exposure to Pesticides

There are nearly 900 pesticides registered for use in the United States. Nearly all are at least moderately toxic to humans and pets and many are highly toxic. Symptoms of overexposure to pesticides include irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, blurred vision, nausea, loss of coordination, muscular weakness, and damage to the central nervous system, liver, and kidneys. Every registered pesticide has a “signal” word on the label, ranking the level of toxicity to humans, as follows:

• Danger—Poison: highly poisonous
• Danger: poisonous or corrosive
• Warning: moderately hazardous
• Caution: least hazardous

Some of the more problematic pesticides used in and around households include:

• Organophosphates and carbonates. These two classes of chemicals, including Dursban and Lorsban, kill insects by disrupting their nervous systems. Studies indicate that they affect the birth weight and neural development of infants. From 1993 to 1996, nearly 63,000 reports were made to U.S. poison control centers about residential exposures to organophosphates, according to the U.S. EPA. Almost 25,000 of these incidents involved children under 6, who are particularly vulnerable to organophosphate poisoning and at least 482 resulted in hospitalization.
• Mothballs - human exposure hazards: Mothballs contain either of the chemicals paradichlorobenzene or naphthalene. Paradichlorobenzene is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the EPA, and its vapors can irritate skin, eyes, and the respiratory tract. Large doses can damage the liver.
  
  Exposure to naphthalene promotes hemolytic anemia, associated with fatigue in mild cases and acute kidney failure in severe cases. Poisonings of infants have been reported after dressing the children in clothing stored in naphthalene mothballs.

How to Reduce Indoor Exposure to Pesticides

When possible, the best approach is to find nonchemical approaches to pests. When chemicals must be used, choose the least toxic option, and use it outdoors, if possible, and away from areas used by pets and children who will track it back into the house.

• Use insect-resistant construction materials and techniques. The use of termiticides can be reduced or eliminated by careful detailing of entry points, and by using alternative building materials, such as steel, masonry, concrete, insulating concrete forms (ICFs), or treated lumber. Borate-treated lumber is nontoxic to humans and very effective against termites and carpenter ants as long as it is not exposed to regular wetting.
• Use nonchemical methods of pest and weed control. Since outdoor pesticides and herbicides invariably end up indoors on carpets and in the air, it is prudent to reduce the use of chemicals indoors and out. Options include integrated pest management, biological pesticides, and planting disease-resistant plants. • If using chemicals, choose the least toxic. Look for products with the signal word “warning” or “caution” rather than “danger.” Baits and traps are better than sprays or “bug bombs.”
• Read the label and closely follow instructions. If you must handle pesticides, wear gloves and long sleeves and avoid breathing the vapors. Always keep these chemicals away from children. Carefully follow directions with regard to concentration, protective gear, and restricting access to treated areas. Always ventilate the area well after use, and mix or dilute chemicals outdoors if possible.
• Dispose of unwanted pesticides safely. Most of these chemicals contain VOCs that will vaporize and get into the household air. If you cannot dispose of partially used containers, store outside the living space.
• Minimize exposure to moth repellants. When used, place in a well-sealed trunk or other container that can be stored in ventilated areas outside of the main living space, such as attics or attached garages. Paradichlorobenzene is also the active ingredient in many air fresheners and should be avoided.
• Pesticides in drinking water - pesticide contamination of drinking water wells - see Pesticides Contamination for water testing advice.

-- Adapted with permission from Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction.

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• Steven Bliss served as editorial director and co-publisher of The Journal of Light Construction for 16 years and previously as building technology editor for Progressive Builder and Solar Age magazines. He worked in the building trades as a carpenter and design/build contractor for more than ten years and holds a masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Excerpts from his recent book, Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, Wiley (November 18, 2005) ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, appear throughout this website, with permission and courtesy of Wiley & Sons. Best Practices Guide is available from the publisher, J. Wiley & Sons, and also at Amazon.com.
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• Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, by Steven Bliss. John Wiley & Sons, 2006. ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, Hardcover: 320 pages, available from Wiley.com and also at Amazon.com. See our book review of this publication.

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