Pesticides have been greatly improved in the area of environmental acceptability since the days of long-term residual insecticides such as DDT. All of the insecticides used in APM mosquito control programs are environmentally acceptable. Numerous acceptable and natural biological larval mosquito control agents have been implemented as part of APM's state-of-the art integrated pest management programs.
Bti is a larvicide, which utilizes a natural biological active ingredient that is completely non-toxic and very insect specific. Other larvicides such as Altosid and Abate are used to control mosquitoes and disease in drinking water. ULV adulticides can biodegrade completely in as little as 4 hours. Pesticides formulated with residual properties are designed to biodegrade more slowly. This permits the pesticide to come in contact with more target pests thereby increasing its effectiveness. However, even these residual pesticides are formulated to biodegrade over a relatively short period of time. The physical environmental fate of pesticides vary due to the influences of other environmental conditions. These conditions may include soil pH, UV radiation, rainfall, microbial action and others.
Overall, the pesticides applied by APM are low toxicity, biodegradable, and environmentally acceptable materials.
