Fumigants

[Paul Cherubini]

Randy @aol.com wrote:

> Are there any adverse
> effects of these pest strips? How long do they last before I have to replace
> them??

I've heard the strips can shrink or deteriorate the stryofoam type mounting boards used in  
some collections IF the strip makes direct contact with the foam.

The strips last six months to a year in a closed collection box.

I think you are overdosing if you put a big chunk of strip in each box - thats OK for a day 
or two just to get an initial kill - but there might be adverse effects on your mounted 
specimens or mounting materials if that high of a concentration was used for a prolonged 
period of time. I'd use just a small coin sized piece of strip for long term dermestid 
control.

The strips are made from petro chemicals and thus are not terribly popular among the 
lepidopterists from the western world for cultural and philosophical reasons. Moth balls 
are made from industrial chemicals too, but perhaps the reason they are more popular is 
that people associate high odor with high killing power. Or it may be that cosmetically, 
snow flake like moth balls and paradichlorobenzene flakes appear less toxic and 
threatening.

Like any chemical, high doses pose hazards. Lab rats forced to breathe near lethal doses 
of dichlorvos every day for two years sometimes developed benign tumors and 
occassionally malignant tumors. For that reason, dichlorvos is considered a weak 
potential animal carcinogen. 

Also, if you tried to sniff a strip all day long the way delinquent kids sniff model airplane 
glue, you'd eventually develope cholinesterase depression that could lead to muscle 
twitching, pinpoint pupils, etc. All these symptoms go away within a day when the 
excessive exposure is stopped.

Paul Cherubini, El Dorado, California