Consumers are becoming more aware of the adverse effects of pest control chemicals in their surroundings, thereby they are now seeking for greener methods in addressing their pest control needs. Protecting customers and their general environment is important, it is likewise necessary to have pest control methods and chemicals which are safe for operators and applicators. This is a big opportunity for pest control operators to adapt to environmentally safe or green chemicals especially since the treatment process applied for instance against mosquitoes are done within the close proximity of people. Nowadays, using fogging treatments are no longer recommended (Lecture on Urban Pest Management Program Designed for Certified Pesticide Applicators (CPA) Training, conducted by Mr. Jun Tibor, Director of National Committee on Urban Pest Control (NUCP), January 27-29,2016), hence green chemicals as alternative are a big opportunity to address any mosquito problems and other pest management needs.
According to a recent article of the World Health Organization concerning the latest threat of the Zika virus carrying mosquitoes, “Aedes aegypti, the principal mosquito species that transmits Zika, dengue, and chikungunya viruses, has a number of breeding and behavioral quirks that make it extremely difficult to control. Previously successful control programmers were replaced by the space spraying of insecticides during emergencies, a measure with high visibility and political appeal but low impact, unless integrated with other control strategies.”
It is likewise necessary for PCOs to adapt green chemicals and environmentally safe pest control practices to effectively deal with resistance of pests compared to the use of traditional chemicals. Pest resistance is a natural adaptation to chemicals, which is especially true for the Aedes aegypti female mosquitoes which has been responsible for bringing vector borne diseases such as dengue, malaria, chikungunya and most recently causing an outbreak of the Zika virus in some countries. During the 2013 Federation of Asian and Oceania Pest Managers Associations (FAOPMA) convention held in Hong Kong,
Mr. Robert Fryatt, Director of Xenex Associated in UK, a leading strategic thinker in the global pest management industry conducted a talk on the subject of increasing pest resistance due to climate change. Apart from the natural occurrence of pest resistance to chemicals, he specifically discussed that once pests found in tropical climate are now spreading in the frigid lands in the west such as UK, Germany and France.
Vector borne diseases are likewise spreading rapidly and can be found in other areas not usually prone to such insects and eradicating such cannot easily be done. He also mentioned that there are even species of mosquitoes that “is able to overwinter and establish indigenous colonies” whenever it migrates to one part of the continent to another. Ignoring this opportunity would let PCO companies deal with increasing warranty complaints, forcing them to invest more in terms of additional application just to ensure pests will be totally eradicated.