EPA Bans Toxic Rat Poisons

Lourdes Salvador's Column ...Co-founder of MCS America discusses the latest Multiple Chemical Sensitivity issues.

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EPA Bans Toxic Rat PoisonsEPA Bans Toxic Rat Poisons

by Lourdes Salvador

 

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking steps to ban residential sales of toxic rat and mouse poisons and unenclosed bait and pellet products to protect children and wildlife. All new products must be enclosed in bait stations.

 

"These changes are essential to reduce the thousands of accidental exposures of children that occur every year from rat and mouse control products and also to protect household pets," said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

 

Children and pets are especially vulnerable to toxic exposure from rat and mouse poisons because they play on floors where they may come into direct contact with poisons or eat bait pellets.

 

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, twelve thousand reports are filed each year regarding children and exposure to poisons.

 

The EPA offers several ways to prevent rodent infestation and eliminate the need for poisons:
 

• Seal entry holes and spaces inside and outside the home.
• Clear away potential food sources.
• Look for and eliminate nesting sites and materials.
• Look for rat and mouse droppings.
• Check for evidence of chewing on packages, etc.

The EPA recommends using all products according to label directions and precautions. Often people think more is better and fail to respect the products they are using, leading to unintended consequences.

 

Pesticides are not required and may do more harm than good. Besides toxicity to children and pets, rodents who become ill from these poisons tend to seek water and often die in the walls, leaving decaying carcasses and their malodor for months.

 

Many consumers prefer the snap traps that kill the rodent when they step on them, or the safe food traps which lure rodents into a cage that locks them in when they eat the food left inside. These are completely non toxic and allow the rodents to be released back into the wild or disposed of outside the home.

 

 

 

For more articles on this topic, see: MCSA News.

 

Copyrighted 2011 Lourdes Salvador & MCS America

 

 

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