We don’t use any products that are overtly dangerous to people or pets. The synthetic options for mosquito control are not dangerous, but the EPA and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture make guidelines based on an abundance of caution. Synthetic pesticides may, at very high rates no one may ever legally use, be carcinogenic to rodents in laboratory tests.

Even with the kind of frequent exposure our techs get, they are in no danger of being susceptible according to product labels and available literature from studies. The rate of exposure for your family and pets is many times lower than that of our techs, so your risk and theirs is accordingly even smaller.

The one area that must be very carefully watched and avoided is fish ponds. Fish are far more sensitive to pesticides than mammals, and may be harmed or killed. If you have a water feature with fish, such as koi, our well-trained techs will keep a minimum safe distance from them and avoid harming them. If you have an exotic, pet bird, we advise that you do not place their cages outside or on screened porches while we are treating, as they are more susceptible than mammals, though not so much as fish.

Synthetic pesticides may harm pollinators such as bees and butterflies, and that is a concern. We take all steps required by product labels to avoid harm to pollinators and mitigate any risk to them. Most harm to pollinators from our synthetic products comes from exposure to higher rates of use than are required to kill mosquitos.

Synthetics do have an issue with the gradual development of pesticide resistance in their target pest, though there are ways of working with synthetics to mitigate this and manage it well.

Our organic pesticide, cedar oil, is not harmful to pollinators unless it is applied directly to their bodies. There is no residual toxicity to bees or butterflies from cedar oil. However, since they breathe through the outsides of their bodies, like other insects, any oil may cause them difficulty breathing. We will not directly spray any butterflies or bees with our organic applications, thus avoiding harm to them.

Our cedar oil product works several ways to kill mosquitos and other pests such as ants and roaches and these ways are not ones that bugs can easily adapt to and gain pesticide resistance against.

Cedar oil causes dehydration. The oil leeches water from mosquitos and other bugs, eventually killing them.

Cedar oil disrupts pheromones. Since bugs navigate and communicate through pheromones and use them to regulate body functions, disruption of pheromones can disorient and kill them.

Cedar oil physically dissolves insects in early life stages. Eggs, larvae, and pupae are vulnerable to this process. The exoskeletons of adult insects and arachnids are dissolved as well, causing them mobility issues, and aiding other effects in penetrating shells and hastening morbidity.

Cedar oil is an emulsifier and breaks down fat particles. Since bugs require fat to live, the loss can be fatal.

Cedar oil can interfere with respiration in bugs, clogging the pore on the outsides of their bodies through which they breathe, or causing them to close the pores in self defense, thus suffocating them.

Cedar oil neutralizes acidity, disrupting their body chemistry, resulting in death.

There are some synthetics that work faster than cedar oil, and some that don’t. There are some that last longer and some that don’t. As we weigh the costs and benefits of various pesticide options, we find that the cedar oil product is an excellent addition to the arsenal for mosquito control. In the personal experience of our techs, it provides control quite on par with synthetic pesticides. Both are viable options for controlling mosquitos on your property,and we are happy to use either.