This is one of those editorial entries that could be considered a public service announcement. In that it counters some pesticide makers’ marketing efforts, perhaps we’re not supposed to speak of such things, but this topic is important. People need to know. Something being natural does not make it safe or organic. That said, let me start with a short story about our initial encounter:
Okay to Spray
Back in the ’90s my wife and I were concerned about fleas in the carpet. She went to a veterinarian. The vet suggested some spray. She asked if it was safe. The vet said, “sure, it’s all natural, made from flowers. You can spray it on your kids, your food, very safe… but it kills fleas quite well.” My wife said okay and bought the large can. $30 worth. When she came home with it and I — in the larval years of running this company — immediately raised an eyebrow, flipped the can over, and read the minuscule cautionary print. Hmm, do not spray on kids. Do not spray on food.
How come? It’s supposed to be made from flowers, all natural… it’s supposed to be safe. But it’s not that safe if we are to believe the label. Certainly not as safe as the vet said. My wife brought it back and we got our money back. As we found out soon enough, food grade diatomaceous earth, or “DE” as it’s known, and a stiff broom so as to work it into the carpet, does wonders for fleas in a rug. And it’s a heck of a lot safer than all-natural made-from-chrysanthemums pyrethrum (which can be found in some DE products today, so beware) and other botanical pesticides.
Natural Pesticides
Botanical or naturally plant-derived pesticides are often thought of as “biorational,” meaning they are easy on the natural and introduced beneficial species of insects, mites, and nematodes. This isn’t really the case. In our experience over the years, we’ve found that some of the synthesized botanicals are safer to use than their natural counterparts (e.g. petroleum-oil-mixed azadirachtin versus neem-oil-mixed azadirachtin). In another odd twist, we’ve also found that some purely synthetic chemicals are safer than some of both of the aforementioned types. It’s probably because they were engineered with some safety in mind — safety in the form of limited viability and organic breakdown of the active and inert ingredients. The problem with pesticides, even those known to be the most biorational, are that even if they do not directly affect the good bugs that help us more than most people realize, they will more than likely affect them indirectly by obliterating their source of food or reproductive requirements.
As it concerns the use of biocontrols in an IPM or integrated pest management program, our anecdotal insights have determined that no pesticides, botanical or chemical, synthetic or otherwise, are good for the program. We now only endorse and sell bacterial/microbial products like Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), or those with physical properties like insecticidal soap, and we strongly encourage only limited and very targeted use of even these products. We like how they work, but only when used the right way. Even these products can be dangerous to the environment (and depending on product, even the user).
Many products that are marketed as being “natural” may very well be, but they are only assumed to be “safe.” A lot of this misunderstanding can be tied to packaging and design. The required skull and crossbones are small and on the back of the bottle. The full color photo of some natural meadow, however, covers the front of the bottle, with clear emphasis on the word “natural.” From the front this natural poison looks innocuous — just like Australia’s cute little blue ringed octopus — but looks can be deceiving. Always turn your attention to the back of the bottle. A lot of what you’ll read there will be meaningless, but you will get the general idea of if the back of the bottle belies the front.
Natural Pesticide Dangers
Just so you know this isn’t being made up to push you into using biocontrols, here are a couple of links to help you learn more. During the research of this article we were overwhelmed by just how thoroughly this information has been trending on the Internet, thus the links below are specific Google web searches. You can take your pick at what you choose as valid corroboration.
The two links above are probably more than enough to convince you all is not right with the disparity between the front and the back of many natural pesticide products. You may not need or even want more, but we do. If you have have heard of other links between natural pesticides and diseases, cancers, birth defects, or anything of that sort, please feel free to post the information below (while comments remain open) so we can all learn — ignorance isn’t safe.
Oh, And About “Organic”
If something is labeled as being “organic” it must actually be organic (officially certified, derived from and supported by 100% organic products and practices). This is law, thankfully. But it doesn’t mean that product packaging can’t and doesn’t stretch things a bit. This spring we saw a new home-gardening media product on the market, a potting soil, that had the word organic large and predominant on the label. Further reading of the fine print, however, revealed that the contents of the bag contained a large majority of certified organic constituents, with inorganic chemical fertilizers added. In the world of organics, the entire contents of this product cannot be considered organic. It would not be allowed on a organic farm or in organic production. We wouldn’t be surprised to see this product’s labeling changed next year because the use of the word organic in this case is a borderline if not outright violation of the law. Quite simply, if you see the word organic, look twice, read the fine print.
Now go out there and have a safe season.
