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This is a continuously updated archive of the Aroid-L mailing list in a forum format - not an actual Forum. If you want to post, you will still need to register for the Aroid-L mailing list and send your postings by e-mail for moderation in the normal way.
Ants! Every kind,Everywhere!
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From: "john s. smolowe" johnsmolowe at pacbell.net> on 2002.01.24 at 04:19:09(8058)
Krystof -
Please remember to be courteous. I believe I was painstakingly careful to mention correctly the pesticide ingredient, the absence of federal approval, and the danger around toddlers. Pyrethroids are in common use in many licensed pesticides
and are by no means the most toxic of licensed pesticides. You mention homicide. Are you sure pyrethroids have been causing deaths? I certainly agree that we should be careful about using all pesticides.
John Smolowe, M.D.
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Menlo Park, CA
Krzysztof Kozminski wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Jan 2002, john s. smolowe wrote:
>
> > off the record, there is a chinese product called "miracle ant chalk"
> > that comes 2 three-inch sticks of white chalk per $2 yellow and orange
> > cardboard box. it is not licensed and therefore not available from
> > nurseries, but can be found in chinatown groceries in major cities. it
> > is said to contain pyrethrum or pyrethroids. works well indoors or on
> > clay pots - just a single line across the ants column leads to the
> > death of hundreds within hours. might be impractical on dirt and
> > probably not good to use if toddlers are around as it looks just like
> > blackboard chalk.
>
> This is an understatement of the century. It is a HOMICIDAL idea to use
> it around toddlers, and STUPID idea otherwise.
>
> Check out this URL about the chalk:
> http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/archives/pressrls/1998/chalk.htm.
>
> Some quotes from the above:
>
> "Deltamethrin and cypermethrin are synthetic pyrethroids, a class of
> insecticides that act on the nervous system. Overexposure to them can
> produce serious health effects, including vomiting, stomach pains,
> convulsions, tremors, coma, and death due to respiratory failure"
>
> "analyses of colorful boxes typically used for these products has found
> high levels of lead and other heavy metals"
>
> "Consumers who have purchased these illegal products should dispose of
> them at their local household hazardous waste facilities"
>
> In California, this stuff is illegal and sellers can be fined up to $5K
> for selling it. "If anyone knows where such products are being sold,
> please call DPR's Enforcement Branch, at (916) 445-3920, or the local
> county agricultural commissioner,"
>
> KK
>
> >
> > Donald Burns wrote:
> >
> > > Marc,
> > >
> > > Seems to me that the pest control guys down here use a common kitchen
> > > chemical (white powder) such as Arm & Hammer stuff to fight hard shelled
> > > insects. The last time we had a carpenter ant invasion, this stuff was used
> > > along with some more toxic stuff. Wish I could remember what it was. I'm
> > > sure someone else will know.
> > >
> > > Don
> > >
> > > mburack@mindspring.com writes:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > For those of you who dont grow plants in South Florida, I am doubtful that you could understand the "unreal" insect problem "we" deal with here.
> > > >
> > > > I have been looking for a way to kill a lot! of ants without having to use serious pesticides (I save the serious stuff for the more "colorful" groups of pest insects).
> > > >
> > > > Ants regularly invade and nest in every available pot I have and farm every miserable pest imaginable. Does anyone know of a good and fairly benign product that can be flooded on the plant as well as into the soil with good result?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks
> > > >
> > > > Marc
> > >
> >
>
> ====================
> "Microsoft is to software what McDonalds is to gourmet cooking"
>
> Krzysztof Kozminski
> kk@kozminski.com
> http://www.kozminski.com/
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From: Jonathan Ertelt jonathan.ertelt at vanderbilt.edu> on 2002.01.24 at 15:57:19(8063)
>In a message dated Wed, 23 Jan 2002 4:44:52 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>Piabinha@aol.com writes:
>
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>> i tried this stuff years ago when people would swear by it for roaches.
>>it didn't work. so not only is this stuff poisonous, it doesn't seem to
>>work.
>>
>
>Maybe that's because it isn't called Miracle Roach Chalk. A product
>designed for ants may legitimately be ineffective on roaches. To get back
>to the "homicidal" bit -- is any other chemical pesticide any safer around
>toddlers? Numerous household products can kill toddlers, but we do not
>say it is homicidal to use them for their intended purposes.
>
I don't think that the homicidal phrasing, or the quotes which followed,
were meant to be discourteous or over-the-top -- rather, they were a wake
up call to a product that is obviously (once thoroughly explored) at the
high end of the "dangerous to have around scale," especially if the space
is shared with young children. Of course there are nastier pesticides, but
few that could so easily be mistaken by a youngster for a standard
around-the-house item that has been put into the mouth before, with perhaps
mild to no scolding from the nearby grownup. With a colorful (though toxic)
box and poison that looks like a play toy ( especially for those who have
already started experimenting artistically on sidewalks) this stuff is a
whole heck of a lot more dangerous to have around than some carefully
labelled restricted-use pesticide that would (hopefully) be put away safely
out of reach.
Jonathan
Jonathan Ertelt
jonathan.ertelt@vanderbilt.edu
Greenhouse Manager
Vanderbilt University Biology Department
Box 1812, Sta. B
Nashville, TN 37235
(615) 322-4054
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From: "john s. smolowe" johnsmolowe at pacbell.net> on 2002.01.24 at 22:32:33(8068)
should anyone still be interested the ant chalk, given the cautions, i would offer that it works amazingly well for our common small
ants in northern california, but only if you can see the column of marching ants and can draw a chalk stripe through their march -
for example, if ants are marching up a table leg (or along an greenhouse overhead sprinkler line). if you circle that leg with a
stripe, you can watch the ants march across, lick their legs, and fall to the ground. it is not a bait, does not attract ants or other
bugs and therefore will not work on roaches or any bug that doesn't march in columns. and it works so quickly that i don't think the
ants carry it back to their nest as they do borax. no question the merits are overstated on the box and the dangers minimized (the box
says "harmless"), but it does work in its one particular niche.
john smolowe
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Piabinha@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated Thu, 24 Jan 2002 9:21:46 AM Eastern Standard Time, StellrJ@aol.com writes:
>
> > Maybe that's because it isn't called Miracle Roach Chalk. A product designed for ants may legitimately be ineffective on roaches.
>
> it's packaged as miracle chalk, and advertised as efficient in killing roaches.
>
> tyc
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