Pest control laws ‘widely disregarded’ — experts after fumigation deaths

SA may have stringent controls pertaining to the sale of pest control products containing the highly toxic and potentially lethal ingredient aluminium phosphide, but they’re being brazenly and widely disregarded — with fatal consequences.

That’s according to Dr Gerhard Verdoorn, stewardship manager at CropLife SA and director of the Griffon Poison Information Centre.

Products containing aluminium phosphide are being widely sold in hardware stores, spaza shops and plant nurseries without any legislated safety protocols in place.

“They have to be kept under lock and key — handed over to customers on request, after the necessary verification and interrogation has taken place,” Verdoorn said.

Among the most recent deaths associated with the alleged misuse of aluminium phosphide was that of Durban couple Nicholas and Matri Molver last week.

The link has yet to be conclusively proven, but Pest Control Federation of SA vice-president Moses Chetty, who visited the fumigated flat shortly after the bodies were found and has had sight of the pest control operator’s invoice, said the product used by a pest control operator was Gas Toxin, comprising aluminium phosphide.

The product is not registered for use as a treatment for borer beetles inside a home, he said, and the amount of tablets used was “complete overkill”.

The flat's doors and windows hadn’t been sealed and there were no warning notices posted on the front door, alerting neighbours.

While the business in question had been registered as a company, the operator had not registered with the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development, as required by law, so did not have a required “P number”.

“It’s time to close the gaps and take back the control of aluminium phosphide,” Verdoorn said.

This week TimesLIVE discovered that Brights Hardware, which has 10 stores in the Cape as well as an online store, was selling a product called Coopers QuickPhos, containing aluminium phosphide, online.

This is an illegal practice, given that sales cannot be subjected to any of the prescribed safety protocols.

Responding, Brights CEO Orlando Luis said the product had been removed from its online store. Sales of the product will now be limited to in-store, where hazardous substance registers are completed and respective staff members who’ve been trained by the supplier of the product will engage with buyers about correct use and dosage.

Earlier this week, the SA Pest Control Association (Sapca) and CropLife SA issued a statement outlining their plan of action and included warnings for both the industry and consumers:

• All registration holders of aluminium phosphide-containing fumigants have committed to ensuring that their products are only sold to licensed people, that those licensed only sell their products to bona fide farmers and registered pest control operators, and that full sales records are recorded in poison registers, as demanded by law.
• Registration holders of aluminium phosphide-containing products will, of their own accord, notify distributors and retailers to whom they supply the products, telling them not to sell them on to other distributors or retailers who are not licensed.
• The industry will report all unlawful conduct with aluminium phosphide to the registrar and the chief of the inspectorate of the Directorate of Agricultural Inputs Control, the department of health and to the SAPS, with the charges spelt out in terms of the Act and regulations.
• The industry calls on the department of health to increase its inspection of retail outlets to ensure they comply with requirements.
• Members of the public must verify any company or individual who offers pest control services is registered with a valid pest control operator certificate (not a training certificate). And if fumigation is to be done by such a registered pest control operator, the person must have that specific competence listed on their pest control operator registration certificate.
• No pest control operator may use any aluminium phosphide-containing products for controlling any pests in residential premises. There are similar incidents where 100% dichlorvos that is registered for crop pest management is used unlawfully by pest control operators with dire consequences to residents that occupy such premises.

“Members of the public who know of anyone selling aluminium phosphide unlawfully or using it unlawfully for residential pest control, are urged to report such incidents to CropLife SA, who will investigate and report it to the regulatory authorities,” it added. They can do so by e-mailing gerhard@croplife.co.za or via WhatsApp to 082-446-8946.

To validate the credibility of a pest control company and its operators, consult Sapca’s website for a list of companies which adhere to standard operating procedures and follow the pest control operator regulations.

The public, real estate agents and transferring attorneys are advised to make use of these Sapca-registered companies to avoid the unlawful use of pesticides, fumigants and unlicensed pest control operators.

• GET IN TOUCH: You can contact Wendy Knowler for advice with your consumer issues via e-mail: consumer@knowler.co.za or on Twitter: @wendyknowler.

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