Bio-Sanitation Benefits

Many pest management professionals have found Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to be a popular treatment approach in challenging accounts like commercial kitchens. The Mallis Handbook of Pest Control emphasizes that there must be an "emphasis on non-chemical approaches such as sanitation" when dealing with cockroaches. Cockroaches "abound near hot water pipes, moist kitchen sinks, behind stoves and refrigerators, and in any cracks or crevices big enough for them to hide," places where food winds up during the usual processes of cleaning dishes and surfaces.

That biological material that builds up in drains, trash cans, and other moist spots in restaurants and cafeterias is a dining delight for cockroaches; removing that desirable food source is a critical step in attacking a cockroach problem in these settings.

Doug Foster, owner and president of Burt's Termite & Pest Control, Columbus, Ind., particularly likes to use borate powder as a dust or liquid depending on the liquid, along with biogels that cling to the organic buildup and break it down. His firm sells these products directly to their customers and provides training to their cleanup crews to ensure the products are mixed and applied correctly. "A lot of times, we can solve a cockroach problem in a drain," he says, "just by using those products and cleaning the drain." He maintains a relationship with a professional drain cleaning company he refers clients to for particularly heavy buildup. This approach eliminates the problem, which positions his technicians and clients to stay on top of the problem with ongoing treatment.

John Myers, Gunter Pest and Lawn, Kansas City, Mo., says his firm believes in using "every tool at your disposal" and relies on antimicrobial agents, foaming equipment, and enzymatic digesters at client sites, adding that pest management professionals should also consider solid forms such as pucks or bullets to maintain a constant level of these important products. In some of the accounts, he suggests clients add these materials into their mop water and spray foam into grease cups as part of their day-to-day cleaning.

Zach Smith, Smith's Pest Management, San Francisco area, is a fan of enzymatic digesters, particularly in foam applications. Foam "expands into the drainage; I like to foam all the drainage every time I am servicing a client." And, like Foster, he provides a training component, noting that food-service workers "can often do a better job of not using drains as garbage disposals." He points out that bio-sanitation products aren't restricted materials (some are using 25-B exempt products), making them especially attractive for situations where food is being prepared. As Mallis notes, an approach that brings in bio-sanitation tools also minimizes "ecological and health impacts and delay[s] the onset of insecticide resistance."

Dr. Mohammed El Damir, technical director, Adam's Pest Control, Minneapolis, Minn., recommends bio-sanitation products be used across the range of commercial accounts that deal with food, including "food processing and handling places, restaurants and hospitals." He notes that eliminating these food sources can reduce and eliminate pests such as drain flies along with the cockroaches. Mallis cites research that indicates "improved sanitation also should channel more foraging toward insecticide baits. Indeed, many studies of insecticide baits under lab conditions showed that the effectiveness of baits is much higher in the absence of alternative foods."

Jonathan Boyar, owner of Ecologic Entomology, Boston, says service managers and pest management professionals may encounter some resistance from customers who have worked with service providers who relied almost exclusively on baits to combat cockroach infestations. Overreliance on those baits, he says, has "trained the customers that they don't have to clean out" cockroach harborages. But, he adds, we have an "escalating cockroach problem in this country. Cockroach calls are way up. The level of infestation is way up. Existing customers who never had cockroach problems before are having cockroach problems now." And only an integrated, intensive approach that includes bio-sanitation and thorough cleaning protocols can address it, he said.