Diatomaceous Earths - Natural Insecticides
2013
Zlatko Korunić
The regulatory issues for diatomaceous earth (DE) cover three fields: consumer safety,worker safety, and proof of efficacy against pests. For consumer safety, regulatory issuesare similar to those for other additives, and a principal benefit of DEs is their removal bynormal processing methods. For worker safety, regulatory issues are similar to those forother dusts, such as lime. The proof of potential insecticide values of DE may be assessedby using the analysis of physical and chemical properties of DE and its effect on grainproperties and the proof of efficacy may be regulated by bioassay of standard design.Integrated pest management (IPM), a knowledge-based system, is rapidly providing aframework to reduce dependence on synthetic chemical pesticides. The main principleof post-harvest IPM is to prevent problems rather than to react to them. The specificcurative measures using synthetic pesticides should be applied only when infestationoccurs. DE and enhanced diatomaceous earth (EDE) formulations hold significant promiseto increase the effectiveness and broaden the adoption of IPM strategies, thereby reducingthe need for synthetic pesticides. By incorporating DE in an effective IPM program,grain is protected against infestation, loss caused by insects is prevented and grain qualityis maintained until the grain is processed. Cases study data on the use of DE for commodityand structural treatment show that DE is already a practical alternative to syntheticpesticides in some applications.
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