If anyone may have swallowed or touched a product
Ring the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26, day or night; healthdirect says there's no need to wait until symptoms appear. Call 000 if the person collapses, stops breathing, has a seizure or a severe allergic reaction. If it's a pet, call your vet straight away.
Why the label decides, not a promise
People often ask whether pest control is OK around pets or during pregnancy. The honest answer is that it depends on the product, where it goes and what its label says, and no one should give you a blanket yes.
The Agvet Code (s 84) bars any claim about a registered product that doesn't match its approved label. So the useful questions are about the label: which product, its full name, and what it says about people and animals going back in.
In NSW, a pest controller must give you the relevant safety data sheets for the pesticides being used, on request. Better Health Channel suggests asking for the full chemical name and raising concerns such as pregnancy, young children or allergies before anyone starts.
Before the technician arrives
Tell them who lives there
Children, pets (birds, fish and reptiles too), anyone pregnant, older relatives, and anyone with asthma or allergies. Our enquiry form doesn't ask health questions, so say it on the call.
Get the product name early
Ask which product they'll use and its full name a day or two ahead, so you have time to read about it and ask questions.
Move the animals
NSW EPA advice is to cover or remove bird cages and fish tanks and move other pets before pesticides are used. Better Health Channel says to keep pets away during treatment and until the pesticide is dry, and to cover or remove fish ponds.
Clear the kitchen and the line
Put away or cover cooking utensils and bench surfaces, and bring in the washing. Better Health Channel lists clotheslines among the things to cover or clear.
Plan to be out
Better Health Channel advises leaving while the pesticide is mixed and applied and until it's dry, with four to six hours generally recommended. Arrange somewhere for the kids and the dog to be.
Pregnancy and young children
The NSW EPA's advice is to keep young children, pregnant women and the elderly away from the treatment, and to go back into a treated area only once it has dried and been well ventilated. Better Health Channel suggests raising pregnancy, young children and allergies with the pest controller before the work begins.
If you're pregnant and unsure, ask for the product name and safety data sheet and take them to your doctor or midwife. The technician will tell you any precautions for their product; ask them to write the re-entry time on the record.
Dogs, cats, birds and fish
Animals get the same rule as people, only stricter, because they lie on floors and lick their paws. Keep them out until the technician's re-entry time has passed and the treated areas are dry, as Better Health Channel advises.
Tell the technician about every animal, including the fish tank and the bird in the back room. If rodent bait stations (locked boxes that hold bait) are part of the job, ask where they'll go and how the dog will be kept away from them. healthdirect also advises keeping insect baits out of children's reach.
After the treatment
- Read the treatment record before the technician leaves: product name, where it was applied, re-entry time and any follow-up date.
- Keep children and pets out until that time has passed and the treated areas are dry.
- Open windows and doors when you go back in; the NSW EPA links re-entry to the area being well ventilated.
- Ask before you mop, vacuum or wipe treated areas, and which ones to leave alone.
- Leave bait stations where the technician put them.
- File the record with your house papers, in case the pest returns or a lease asks for proof.
Units, townhouses and strata
In NSW, whoever arranges pest work in a residential complex's common areas, including a strata managing agent, must give residents a pesticide use notice at least 5 working days beforehand. The notice isn't needed for emergency work on biting or dangerous pests, such as rodents, wasps, bees, venomous spiders or fleas, as long as a notice is displayed and records are kept.
Elsewhere, if you live in a block and see a notice go up, ask the strata manager for the product name and the dates, and plan the pets around it.
Our take on kids, pets and a treatment
We'd get the product's full name a day or two before the visit, move the pets and the fish tank out, and plan an afternoon away. Before the technician leaves, we'd ask them to write the re-entry time on the record, then open the house up when we got back.
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