Health, exposure, and safety

Where to go with an exposure question, and what the evidence actually says.

If you suspect a poisoning, contact Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or poison.org now. If someone is having a severe reaction — difficulty breathing, swelling of the face or throat, or a spreading or rapidly worsening wound — that is an emergency and needs medical attention immediately, not a website.

For a non-urgent pesticide question, the National Pesticide Information Center will speak with you directly. It is a genuinely good service and it is the right referral for questions we cannot responsibly answer.

We do not diagnose

This site does not and will not tell you whether a symptom is caused by a pesticide, whether a mark on your skin is a particular insect’s bite, or whether an exposure was harmful. Those determinations require someone who can examine the person, and getting them wrong in either direction causes harm.

What we can do is tell you where the authoritative information is and what the general picture looks like.

Re-entry and residue questions

“How long after a treatment is it safe?” is one of the most-asked questions in this category, and the honest answer is that it is a label term. The re-entry interval is specified on the label of the product that was applied, and it varies by product and by site. Ask the company that treated your home which product was used and what its label specifies — they are required to be able to tell you, and a company that will not is telling you something.

Pets, children, and pregnancy

The general principles are consistent across authorities: keep people and animals out of a treated area for the period the label specifies; ventilate afterwards as the label directs; keep pets away from bait stations and treated surfaces; and store all products where children and animals cannot reach them.

For anything more specific than that — a particular product, a particular animal, a pregnancy — NPIC is the correct referral and will give you a better answer than any general page.

Two specific hazards are worth naming because they recur. Rodenticides cause secondary poisoning when a pet or wild animal eats a poisoned rodent; this is why several states have restricted them. Flammable liquids applied as a pest treatment have caused fatal fires, most often rubbing alcohol used against bed bugs.

Pollinators

Honey bees, bumble bees, and other pollinators are not pests, and several bumble bee species are in documented decline with one federally listed as endangered. A honey bee swarm is usually temporary and often moves on within a day or two; many areas have beekeepers who collect swarms at no cost. A colony established inside a structure needs the comb removed as well as the bees, because abandoned comb and honey attract other pests and can damage the building.

Disease vectors

The genuine vector-borne risks in the United States are concentrated in a few species, and correct identification is what tells you which risks are plausible where you live.

Ticks transmit Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, with different species carrying different agents. Lone star tick bites are associated with alpha-gal syndrome, an acquired allergy to mammalian meat. Prompt tick checks and correct removal matter more than anything else, because transmission risk rises with attachment time. Consult CDC for removal technique.

Rodents are associated with hantavirus, leptospirosis, and salmonellosis. Deer mice are the primary hantavirus reservoir in North America, and the risk comes from breathing dust raised from nests and droppings in enclosed spaces. Do not dry-sweep or vacuum rodent droppings; follow CDC guidance.

Mosquitoes transmit West Nile virus and, in limited areas, other arboviruses. Removing standing water is the measure that reduces local production.

Bed bugs are not known to transmit disease to people. They cause itching, sleep loss, and real psychological distress, and rarely allergic reactions — but the disease question, which frightens people considerably, has a reassuring answer.