A Call to Action – Part One! (Canadian Rodenticide re-evaluation decision)

The Industry needs your help as Professional Pest Managers.

You are all aware of the PMRA’s actions on the rodenticide re-evaluation decision, and the effects on domestic and commercial baits.  But there is one part of the decision we as an Industry should try to have reversed, and that is the limiting use of difethialone (DFN) baits for indoor use only, completing eliminating the opportunity to use outdoors.  The names more familiar to you would be Generation and FirstStrike.

The PMRA has lumped this bait into the same category as brodificoum, based on arbitrary levels set in one or two chemical properties.

What was ignored was the fact the bait is used at 50%, or half the rate, of brodificoum, and the properties of the products are much closer to bromodialone than brodificoum.  But this and other factors must have taken into account by the EPA, as PMP’s are still allowed to use DFN products both indoors and out in the States.

So what else does the current decision mean and what impact can it have?

There is now only one second generation anticoagulant available for outdoors.  And what, after  5  – 10 years of using one bait for outdoors, will we build up a resistant population of rodents????  Possible???  Who knows, but why take the risk.  And do we want to chance ruining another great active by overuse, leaving Canada with no effective bait for outdoors, where you need to stop infestations from coming inside?

The second issue is bait shyness, which we all know develops after continual use and feeding.  This will also impact choices…leaving us with products that aren’t any where near as effective.

So what do you need to do to help? 

Read part 2!