Pest Control Products

Pest Control Formulations

Pest control products come in a wide range of formats or formulations, each with their own characteristics, pros and cons. Understanding how pest control formulations work is important for pest managers in order to select the best product for any particular situations, and also ensure correct mixing and application for optimal performance. One particular area to understand is how droplet size impacts product application efficiency and performance.

Formulations used in Surface Spray Treatments

EC formulations

SC formulations – the importance of particle size in SC formulations and impact of formulation on the performance of SC products.

ZC formulations

SE formulations (Suspo-Emulsion technology)

Wettable Powders

Fogging formulations

When in comes to space spray treatments, in particular fogging treatments, understanding the interaction between formulation, application equipment and droplet sizes is critical. Check out our overview article on understanding fogging with water based formulations.

Natural Pest Control

There is an increasing trend in many countries around the world, by both customers and regulatory authorities, for pest managers to reduce pesticide use and look for non-chemical control options. This is also reflected in an increasing demand for more natural, safer pest control products. Here’s a summary of the natural pest control market in the US.

Pheromones in Pest Control Products

Pheromones are chemicals which modify insect behaviour. Alarm, sex and aggregation pheromones have been identified for many pest insects and some are being uses or have potential to be used in pest control products. More information on pheromones and pest control products.

Fumigants

With the insecticide options for use in fumigation rapidly diminishing, there is a significant amount of research looking into new fumigation chemicals. Safety and mammalian toxicity are key issues and so natural fumigants with a favourable toxicity profile are being investigated. Recent research has highlighted methyl benzoate as a potential fumigant.

Poison Scheduling in Pest Control Products

Safety is the number one consideration when using pest control products. Each products gets assessed by the regulatory authority (APVMA) as part of the registration process. The poison scheduling process determines the safety instructions and the signal heading – the word at the top of the label (POISON, CAUTION). Here’s some information about understanding the poison scheduling on pest control products.

Pest Control Product Evaluation

Before selling a pest control product the manufacturers need to register their product with the APVMA. As part of this registration process, the efficacy of the product is assessed. For new products, the manufacturer needs to submit efficacy data, normally carried out by an independent laboratory. For products which are similar to existing products, manufacturers sometimes don’t have to submit efficacy data if they can demonstrate the product is essentially the same. Learn more about how manufacturers test pest control products and generate data for registration.

Although products get registered and therefore have provided evidence that the product works, which allows them to make the claims made on the label, pest managers will often want to test the products for themselves before deciding to include it in their list of regularly used products. Here are some times on how pest managers should evaluate new products.

More information on pest control.