DIY Termite Prevention

[Harvster]

Borax is NOT food safe. Please look at the following link.Canadian Food Inspection Agency - Bureau of Food Safety and Consumer Protection - Letter to Industry - BORAX (BORIC ACID) SOLD OR REPRESENTED AS FOOD


Here are some calculations based on the known testing for borax and Termidor SC.

1. Toxicity of Borax (from reference below) LD50 for rats is 4500-5000 mg/kg Meaning for half of the test rats to die they must eat 4500 to 5000 mg of borax per kg of rat body weight. We'll assume 1 kg rats.
2. Toxicity of Termidor SC for rats is an LD50 of >1999mg/kg or half the test rats die from eating above 1999mg per kg.(however this is the concentrate and is diluted by about 100 gallons of water for the application.
3. So 20 boxes of borax(mine are 76 ounces) comes out to be 43092000mg of borax. Or enough to kill about 4500 rats(using the midrange of 4750mg/kg to kill half the rats)
4. Termidor SC is a 78ounce bottle I believe to treat an average size house. This turns out to be 2211300 mg of Termidor SC. This is enough to kill about 550 rats.
5. So the "safe" borax would kill 4500 rats and the Termidor would kill 550.
6. I know which one I would choose.
7. For comparison the LD50 of table salt is 3000mg/kg and caffeine is 192mg/kg

http://www.msdsvault.org//GENERALPDF/33850-USBorax-Borax.pdf http://www.fluorideaction.org/pesticides/msds/fipronil.termidor.sc.basf.pdf

 

[SPIKER]

I suppose I won't let my pet rats crawl around under the slab either then


considering that for 50+ years it was the washing soap of choice and that most older farm houses have a lot of it flushed through the septics then I haven't done much harm if I choose to use it...

markM
mark M

 

[N80]

So the "safe" borax would kill 4500 rats

Kills rats and termites? That sounds perfect!

I'm just kidding, your point is well taken and I would not consider borax food safe, but still quite safe in general. I too used to do a bit of taxidermy, and while I did not sweeten my tea with the borax, I got a lot of exposure. And I've turned out just fine, well, not counting that twitching, constant drooling and double vision. Wonder what the LD50 is on the other preparations mentioned here???

 

[Harvster]

I agree that borax is very safe for such uses. But, my main point is that lots of chemicals are quite safe when used properly. There is no need to fear something just because it is a man-made chemical. I like the caffeine comparison because it is moderately toxic and some people drink it everyday, even going so far as to say they need it.

 

[Redbug]

Just a little information to the folks that don't know anything about Timbor. Here is a link to the label of the product, which gives directions/how to apply, etc. It's a PDF file so it will take a little longer to load up...

http://www.nisuscorp.com/pdfs/timborlabel.pdf

 

[N80]

I like the caffeine comparison because it is moderately toxic and some people drink it everyday, even going so far as to say they need it.

Well, even water and oxygen are toxic if taken in sufficient quantities.

 

[SPIKER]

Kills rats and termites? That sounds perfect!

I'm just kidding, your point is well taken and I would not consider borax food safe, but still quite safe in general. I too used to do a bit of taxidermy, and while I did not sweeten my tea with the borax, I got a lot of exposure. And I've turned out just fine, well, not counting that twitching, constant drooling and double vision. Wonder what the LD50 is on the other preparations mentioned here???

I thought I was the only one with constant twitching, drooling and double vision!

MarkM

 

[HomeBrew2]

Wayne (LMTC), thanks for bringing Bifen I/T to my attention. I see that the indoor/outdoor premix stuff I buy from Home Depot in gallon jugs has 0.05% Bifen. I use it inside because it is supposed to be much safer than OrthoChlor. From the very first search result, Bifen I/T @ 7.9% costs ~$2/oz which would make a 0.06% solution in a gallon ... I just paid $14 for a gal of premix Next time, I'll be getting Bifen I/T concentrate and will probably abandon the orthoChlor also.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Oops, cancel last part of previous post. Just checked the label on OrthoKlor (correct spelling) ... it is Bifenthrin @ 2.9% So it's the same stuff as Bifen I/T but lower % which makes it about 2+ x the cost of Bifen I/T.

 

[slowrev]

Borax is also good brazing flux.