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After I told someone what I did, they said it was a bad idea and I couldn't live in my home now.

Yesterday, I saw a cockroach. I hate those, so I went to a pest control supplier and bought a 5lbs tub of boric acid powder. I then laid down a nice blanket (the whole 5lbs bucket) of the stuff on the underside of my trailer. The whole underside! The ground under it is completely covered. That should keep them out right?

Hi Mike,

Was it way overkill... ummmm yeah!

Not knowing the precise pesticide you used, I can't tell you whether your home is safe for humans at this point.

You're afraid of germs, but you used insecticides? You may want to rethink that a bit.

Sorry, this comes from an old hippie!

Maureen

Hi Mike,

if the product was just boric acid, not likely to be a problem, best answer, having the container with you, call poison control, and talk with them. or better yet, call the phone number of the manufacturer. they will refer to a safety bulletin called a MSDS sheet (material safety data sheet) that is created for all chemical products.

I expect you will be told to take the stuff out. Push back, and ask what is the worse that can happen if you leave it in place. they will then hem and haw, and say they cannot be responsible for telling you it is ok to leave it. what you need to be doing is getting the info you need to make a responsible choice.

hate to put it this way, but since it is 5:30 AM my time... l, if you did not get sick while applying the stuff with no goggles, gloves, or safety mask, you probably are not someone who is unusually sensitive to it.

that said, please, in the future, be conservative with chemicals[!!!!.

I worked with chemicals for years, and even professionals make mistakes. I missed a caution statement on the last page of a safety packet, and melted a material on the lab counter instead of in a fume hood, and the fumes caused me to get a raging sinus infection. I had two weeks of antibiotic taking to remind me of my mistake.... lol

boric acid is so good as an insecticide because the insects either eat it directly if it has sugar or sweetener with it, or walk through it, and get it on them, and when they clean it off, it is a stomach poison to them.

the boric acid is going to dissolve away like salt over time, but unless you have to go crawling in it, my bet is that you haven't created a nightmare.

this is the link for the material safety data sheet for Boric acid. it is the British version, it is accurate, it just was the first one I found. MSDS sheets are a good source of info for this case, they are written for situations where people are working in industry with larger quanities of stuff.

http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/BO/boric_acid.html

put it this way, even if it had only been baking soda or salt, 5 lbs of chemicals is a lot of stuff, and you don't want to expose yourself to that much of anything, except water...!

lecture over.... I apologize for the rant.... after 13+ years in the past of having to have chemical safety training every month at work, it just doesn't leave your mind very quickly......


Brenda

Defineately a bad idea to overkill like that.
Boric acid? You'd have to either ingest it or absorb a whole lot of it thru your skin. Either way it is basically harmless to humans.
In the future set off a few insect bombs under the house. Works for me.
Good luck
brucetrout

Hi

About 50 years ago my cousin John eat some 99% boric acid roach tablets. He was about 5 years old at the time. They took him to the emergency room. I remember for a long time after he had skin problems. First a rash then dry scaly skin....looked like alligator skin.
He is OK now.

I wouldn't put that much chemical on the ground at my house because I am on a well and I'm afraid it end up in the water table over time.

It is my understanding the roach has to eat the boric acid. So unless your roaches dine down-under it will not kill em all.

I have used boric acid for many years. I put a little in the floor corners and the back corner of kitchen cabinets. Living in Florida I have to set off bombs about twice a year.

Roaches have been around before the dinosaurs. You'll probably not get em all.

JMO

Harry

I'm not sure, but I found 5 dead squirrels, about a dozen roaches, one dead snake, and dead birds all around my yard today........

Hi,

Not understanding the dead birds and squirrels, are these getting under your home?

When you need pest control again, there a couple of different probably several home remedies that people use.

Cockroaches, palmetto bugs, pine beetles, they are all about the same...a cockroach, and all like the same environments, warmth and moisture. Check your water heater area, most homes if cockroaches are present will have eggs or droppings in that area.

When using the spray bombs, I always use one can per room, and throw at least 3 under the home at the same time. PLEASE USE CAUTION when using the spray bombs...follow the instructions, especially if you do this in the winter and have a gas fired furnace or a gas fired water heater any time of the year.

My thinking is this, if you spray underneath, the come up, spray the top they go underneath. Getum coming and going!

~Yanita~

Before I started anything I did spray bomb. But I didn't do it underneath the home. The water tank area is clean. And I laid out a line of that stuff around the closet. I laid a line of it around the base of the cabinets and around the edge of the floor against all the walls before I put down my trim.

(I was joking about the dead animals.) (And for future reference I only have electric)

I'm moving in tonight and for some reason I can't get my fiber installed till the 11th, so see you all then.