Sulfuryl Fluoride: VIKANE
CAS No. 2699-79-8

July 18, 2005. Termite trouble threatens day care.
By Michael Miller. Daily Pilot (California).

 
 

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Daily Pilot (Newport Beach andCosta Mesa, California)

July 18, 2005

Termite trouble threatens day care

Condo board orders fumigation, but owner of preschool says toxins could harm children.

By Michael Miller, Daily Pilot

Insects have arrived at Miss Sherri's Preschool -- and they're starting to mark their territory. Their droppings are visible on a child's toy stove that sits on the back patio under the edge of the roof.

Sherri Turner, a resident of the Newport Terrace condominiums who operates a day care service out of her living room, wants the invaders out as soon as possible. But she's also up against neighborhood authorities. The Newport Condominium Assn. board of directors, seeking to quell the area's infestation problem, has begun ordering the fumigation of homes with Vikane, a common anti-termite pesticide.

The board claims fumigation is a safe and effective way of fighting termites. Turner, however, opposes the use of anti-termite gas in her home -- and fears the impact it might have on the 11 children who populate it five days a week.

"The main issue is health for the children," Turner said. "When you're in your home all the time, the risks are higher. Some of my kids are on breathing machines, defibrillators, putting things in their mouths."

Parents at her school support Turner's position and have petitioned the board to use another method of pest control.

"Part of the reason I picked Miss Sherri's school for my son to go to is that she favors an organic environment," said Kari Stade, who drops her son off at Turner's home for six hours a day. "She keeps everything clean. If they sprayed the house with chemicals, I might have to take my son somewhere else."

Some parents at Miss Sherri's have already withdrawn their children, citing concerns about the gas. But the board isn't budging. In a pair of recent letters, Newport Condominium Assn. attorney David Cane asked Turner to vacate her home when the time comes for fumigation, and threatened to obtain a court order for her compliance if she did not.

In the most recent letter, mailed July 12, Cane said the start date for fumigation would likely occur in late August, and that Turner's fears about contamination were unfounded.

"After considering the advice, information, and recommendations of the pest control consultants and the Dow Chemical representatives, the board has determined that fumigation is both a necessary and appropriate means of addressing termite infestation within Newport Terrace," reads the letter, which Turner showed the Daily Pilot.

Cane, along with several members of the board of directors, declined comment for this story.

Whether gases such as Vikane pose long-term health hazards is a matter of contention. To fumigate a home, exterminators generally tent it off for three to four days and allow residents to reenter when the level of gas has dropped sufficiently.

"There's very clear directions on the label regarding clearing the structure after fumigation, to ensure that there's no residue left inside," said Rick Le Feuvre, the agricultural commissioner for Orange County. "The key is that they follow the label."

Harvey Logan, executive vice president of the trade association Pest Control Operators of California, and Marion Moses, president of the nonprofit Pesticide Education Center, also said that Vikane would not have lasting effects on a home once exterminators had cleared it. However, a number of nonprofit groups, including Californians for Pesticide Reform and the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, have long decried the use of toxins in combating termites. Turner cites them as proof of her argument.

In addition to concerns for the children's health, Turner is worried about the effect the fumigation would have on her livelihood. The Newport Terrace resident, who has run her day care service for about seven years, relies on the children's $38-a-day tuition for her income. If she were forced to have her home gassed, Turner said, she would close her school down for two weeks and lose the tuition that comes along with it.

"What I would do is just completely move out," Turner said. "I would close my school down, put all the stuff in storage, and then redo the entire house. I'd repaint walls, rip out the carpet, before I opened for business again."

Parents, who consider Turner's preschool both nurturing and environmentally sound, hope never to have to reach that stage. Kellina Martin said that if fumigation occurred, she would remove her 3-year-old grandson, who is asthmatic and wears a nebulizer.

"He's very sensitive to certain chemicals," Martin explained. "I don't even have him in the kitchen if I'm using Windex or those kinds of things."

 
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