January 21, 2012
I have dogs and worry about viper cypermethrin hurting dog if they walk in the treated area.
Your fear is unfounded. Here’s why.
Much like bleach or ammonia, if you or a pet were to drink concentrated CYPERMETHRIN, it could make you sick. But even if you did, the chances are high you’d vomit it right up anyway because your body would reject the intake big time. The point here is that dogs, cats and any animal that could “eat” or “drink” this product won’t because it tastes really bad. Additionally, once it’s mixed, the mixture is so weak the net impact it can have on any mammal is negligible. It’s just way too diluted to do anything significant.
Also remember there are only three ways anything (like a chemical treatment) can get “into” a person or pet. We can either drink it (orally ingest it), breath it (inhalation) or touch it (dermal – through the skin). So in this case, if you do your treatments when the pets are out of the area, we can rule out oral and inhalation exposure. I say this because if you think about it, they could only orally ingest some if you left puddle of it for them to find. Since it could take 15-30 minutes for the treatment to dry, we always suggest you keep pets out for at least a few hours to insure this can’t happen. And in doing so, you’d be removing this possibility as a mode of exposure.
That leaves the dermal type of exposure which is how most exposures occur to pets anyway. In this situation, the treatment should be done through holes you make in the nest or fire ant mound. That means the product you pour into the holes should drain down and off the top of the soil. And in fact this is exactly what will happen when you follow our guidelines on how to drench. In doing so, there will be nothing left on top of the mound for them to contact. This means the risk of an exposure will be nil.
But lets say you want to spray cypermethrin all over the lawn. This is a common way cypermethrin is applied. Well, even if you treated this way, the amount of concentrate would be dispersed over a large area and in doing so, it would be barely detectable let alone concentrated enough to impact any mammal like a person or dog. Remember, you’re mixing it at the rate of 1/2 ounce per gallon of water. And in this case, you’d be spraying it over a 500-1000 sq/ft area. This means that 1/2 ounce would be scattered so thin it’s amazing it can even impact any insect! In the end, there is no real danger or risk because the amount of product involved is so little.
Lastly, I invite you to view our our Safety Video which covers in great detail how to handle, mix and apply our concentrates. It’s the first video on the link below. This gives a good overview the risks associated with it’s use and if you follow the suggestions, you won’t be putting yourself, your pets or the local environment at any risk.
Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:
Cypermethrin: http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/viper-cypermethrin
Fire Ant Article: http://www.fireant.com/fire-ant-control
Safety Vids: http://www.fireant.com/product-safety
Filed under pet safe