Do-It-Yourself Pest Control Versus Professional Services

By Leonard Douglen, Executive Director New Jersey Pest Management Association

Livingston, NJ – “Americans routinely use countless toxic chemicals without concern,” says Leonard Douglen, Executive Director of The New Jersey Pest Management Association. “Around my home, there are a variety of detergents, carpet cleaner fluid, some paint and thinners. I fill my car’s tank with a highly volatile chemical called gasoline.”

“Though these products come with warnings on the labels, there’s only one that evokes a level of concern among the public and that is pesticides,” says Douglen. “The proper use and storage of pesticides should evoke concern. That’s why people need to ask themselves whether they are safer using pesticides themselves or when trained professional pest management technicians use them?”

Douglen notes that pest control “is probably as old as mankind. I have no doubt that our earliest ancestors had to deal with pests in their caves and later as they began to build various structures in which to live. Cockroaches have been around for at least 350 million years and many species find human habitats ideal for breeding, thanks to the availability of food and water.”

The Middle Ages, Douglen notes, led to the origin of modern pest control techniques as the profession of “rat catcher” became a livelihood. Rats, in combination with lice, spread the infamous Black Plague and, through the growth of cities, insect and rodent species have long posed a health threat.

“The availability of off-the-shelf pesticides is a relatively modern phenomenon, gaining popularity after World War II when DDT proved invaluable in the protection of troops and civilian populations against the diseases spread by insect pests. Until it was banned, it is estimated it saved millions of lives,” says Douglen. “With the growth and spread of suburbs, termite control became essential to protect homes.”

Pesticides are all about “the protection of health and property,” says Douglen, “and today we live in the curious situation where they are available in unlimited quantity to home and apartment dwellers, as well as those who love to garden.” Used according to the label, they are by definition “safe” says Douglen, “but I doubt that most users ever pause to read those labels.”

By contrast, professional pest control technicians “are required by law to be licensed and to secure certification annually and can only do so after demonstrating a high level of education regarding the proper use of many different kinds of pesticides.” Training is an on-going function of all companies involved in the provision of pest management services.” The larger firms maintain a fulltime training director and smaller firms can avail themselves of seminars and other educational programs provided by their state associations.

“The New Jersey Pest Management Association was founded in 1941 precisely to insure that members of the profession could receive the best, science-based information possible regarding the many pest species and the newest techniques and products for their control. Every year, in August, we sponsor an all-day series of seminars in cooperation with Rutgers University.”

In addition, the NJPMA offers specialized courses that offer certification in the detection and/or control of wood-destroying insects and in home inspection techniques.

“So the question of whether do-it-yourself pest control is safer than that provided by pest management technicians,” says Douglen, “has in fact been answered long ago here in New Jersey and around the nation where governmental oversight of our profession insures that the best, safest standards are applied, particularly when pesticides are applied to resolve a problem.”