Welcome to AboutBugs.com
Pest Management Priducts Division of CSPA
You are currently viewing an unstyled text-only version of the site.
Why do we need pesticides?
There are two major benefits of using pesticides - health and quality of life. The health benefits of pesticides are many. Pests -- cockroaches, ticks and mosquitoes, just to name a few - carry disease. Malaria, yellow fever and bubonic plague are on the long lists of insect-borne major epidemic diseases that have been controlled by pesticides. Some other health threats, like Lyme disease, are not yet completely under control, but their spread can be slowed by use of pest control products and techniques.
Biting pests, such as mosquitoes, ticks, flies, fleas and others, sometimes carry infectious diseases. They can also cause wounds and the chance for septic infections. Wasps and spiders can be a direct health treat. Their stings are painful, and the venom of some of them can result in wounds that are slow to heal and frequently get infected. People die each year from allergic reactions to wasps, hornet and bee stings.
Aside from the risks of disease, pests also detract from the quality of life. Who wants to live in a roach infested house? What gardener wants weeks of tending and weeding to be destroyed by an insect infestation? Mosquitoes and other biting insects can make working and playing outdoors unpleasant, and ants can make eating in a kitchen or on a picnic miserable.
