Pesticide labeling should be required
Q: Are you totally against pesticides, or do you believe they do serve a purpose?
J. B. Los Lunas
A: I have no problem with synthetic pesticides being used if they are used responsibly and if the pesticide industry would tell us exactly what is in each formula.
The idea that the inert ingredients are trade secrets is nonsense. Many of the inert ingredients used are carcinogenic or not tested at all. The only people who don’t know the ingredients in a pesticide are the consumers.
Also, pesticide notification should be absolutely required whenever and wherever pesticides are used and people can unknowingly encounter them.
I believe that all produce should be required to list the names of all pesticides used in the growing of each product and the factory farm people should be required to list all the chemicals fed to the livestock before they were slaughtered.
All of this information should be required on all produce and meat labels. People have the right to know what they are ingesting if it is potentially dangerous.
Pesticides should never be allowed to be used in a school, day care center or other place where children are exposed, and they should not be permitted in hospitals or other medical facilities.
They should never be broadcast sprayed from airplanes to kill a mosquito when we have no idea what else it will kill or how it will affect the environment, not to mention affect any people who are in the area when it is sprayed.
Q. Help! What can I do about moths eating my clothes? I have tried spraying the closet, fogging the room and anything else I can think of. Nothing works. Do you have any suggestions?
B. Q., Socorro
A: First, dry clean or wash your clothes before putting them away. This will kill any moth larvae. Clean the entire area with soap and water or steam clean it.
Mix ½ pound dried rosemary, ½ pound dried mint, ¼ pound dried ginseng and 2 tablespoons cloves and put in cheese cloth bags and hang in the closet to repel them.
Hang one Clothes Moth Pheromone Trap close to the closet to attract and catch the male moths and stop the breeding process. You can also use cheese cloth bags with any of the following: dried lemon peels, dried lavender, bay leaves, whole cloves, or cedar chips.
Lightly dust any cracks and crevices in the area with food grade diatomaceous earth (available at feed stores) or baking soda or talcum powder. Pheromone traps are available online. One supplier is www.pestcontrolsupplies.com.
Fagerlund can be reached by e-mail to richardfagerlund@yahoo.com or by phone at 505-385-2820. If readers have any pest control questions, please contact me and I will be happy to help. I may use some of your questions in this column. If you want to send me a bug to identify you can get information about the process on my Web site at www.askthebugman.com.