termites and climate change

Before you resort to fumigation, consider low-impact ways to deal with termites.

Termites are not to be tolerated, but you can probably get rid of them without fumigating.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane are well known as major greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. Now we can add sulfuryl fluoride (SO2F2) to that list. You may not recognize the name—unless your house has been threatened by termites. According to research published in this month’s Journal of Geophysical Research, the common antipest fumigant is 4,800 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2.

THE DETAILS: University of California-San Diego researcher Jens Muhle, PhD, an atmospheric chemist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and leader of the study, became curious in 2004 when he started detecting an unknown compound in air samples. Once his team identified the potent greenhouse gas, they noticed that higher air levels seemed to be related to fumigations performed in nearby buildings. “Unfortunately, it turns out that sulfuryl fluoride is a greenhouse gas with a longer lifetime than previously assumed,” says Muhle. “This has to be taken into account before large amounts are emitted into the atmosphere.” Similar research last fall discovered that nitrogen trifluoride, a gas used as a cleaning agent during the manufacture of thin-film solar cells, flat-panel monitors, and other electronics, is a powerful greenhouse gas, too.

WHAT IT MEANS: Luckily, SO2F2 emission levels aren’t even close to the amount of carbon dioxide we spew into the atmosphere, but the study underscores the importance of knowing everything we can about the chemicals we release into our air. As for termites, the threat of the insects making lunch out of your house is enough to send most homeowners into a fumigating frenzy. But in most cases, spraying the toxic greenhouse gas all over your home isn’t necessary, explains William Quarles, PhD, executive director of the Bio-Integral Resource Center, a nonprofit group that helps homeowners and professionals find the lowest-toxicity remedies for pest problems. He says about 70 percent of the time, homeowners can treat a specific spot with safer alternatives. That’s the better option for exterminators, and maybe for you, as well as the climate. One study found that chronic exposure of fumigators to fumigant gases over a 3-year period led to impairment of memory and sense of smell.

Here’s how to keep termites away, or at least at bay: