If the materials are safe, why is my pest control operator wearing a mask?
Day in and day out, when pest control operators are treating a home for pests customers will ask them “If the materials your using are safe, then why do you have to wear a mask?” This is a great question! Many people associate the wearing of a dusk mask or respirator with immediate danger. What they don’t understand is that as technicians and applicators we must protect our selves from daily conditions conducive to increased chance for respiratory infesfections.
According to many product labels, any applicator who is applying any type of pesticide or insecticide must be wearing a respirator. No matter how GREEN the pesticide claims to be on the label, as pest control operators we must protect our selves. Just because at this very moment the product claims to be safe, does not mean that in the future that could change. Science is changing daily, so we must always re-read the product labels and do our own research to reevaluate our health risks.
Many of the homes and business’ that we service vary in cleanliness. Although some homes can be immaculate, we realize that looks can be deceiving. There may be asbestos in a basement that we are treating for rats. Even peeling lead paint in a hallway. When we pull out stoves and refrigerators in kitchens, we are introducing a fair amount of dust into the surrounding enviroment. A small amount of dust may not sound dangerous. Now multiply that by 8 times a day-5 days a week, it becomes a health problem for us.
Another concern to pest control operators are the risk of inhaling pest waste. By pest waste we mean mouse droppings, rat droppings, roach excrement, bed bug frass, and bird droppings just to name a few. Organic pest waste could be the most dangerous substance listed in this blog. Many microorganisms and pathogens are found in rat feces and mice feces. A big concern for pest control operators is the Hantavirus and salmonella which is found in rodent droppings.
Northeastern Exterminating protects all of their employees by having them wear the latest HEPA respirators. We realize that sometimes our customers may not feel safe when they see a technician walking around with a respirator on. We try to inform our customers of this so they feel more comfortable and try to understand that not only do we want you to be safe and pest free, but we care about our service men too! If you have any further questions about pest control please give us a call at (718)336-0634.
