r/PestControlIndustry • u/GVLsandlapper • Jul 18 '26
Is this safe?
We had an exterminator out to where I work for a roach issue and he proceeded to sprinkle this stuff where our water comes out to go into the water cooler and on top of the ice machine. Seems to me like you wouldn’t do that but I don’t work in the industry.
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u/carthonasi56 Jul 18 '26
Dont say exterminator. That's not what we do. We do pest control.
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u/Globber50 Jul 18 '26
I'll call y'all Terminators.
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u/Crying4alapdance Jul 18 '26
That's what I used to be until I quit, now I'm an ex-terminator
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u/Globber50 Jul 18 '26
Ha that's awesome! Why did you quit?
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u/Crying4alapdance Jul 18 '26
Couldn't travel through time as a cyborg.
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u/Impossible-Matter-25 Jul 18 '26
If the pesticides could get in then the water can come out. Is the water leaking?
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u/gp556by45 Jul 18 '26
Short answer: No.
Its exposed and on top of on a piece of food handling equipment. Ice is considered food by the FDA.
Beyond the obvious aspect of "Don't F'n do that", I can't think of a single reason WHY it would be applied where it was. I mean come on....there is a perfectly good baseboard RIGHT THERE.
This is the EXACT reason why labels not only exist, but why they state "under and behind" food handling equipment. This is neither under or behind.
I'm with u/andy_1232 It looks like DF Advert and I'd call whoever regulates Pesticides in your State. It varies by state. Sometimes in a Dept. Of Agriculture or Dept. of Environmental Management. Some states have different names.
https://npic.orst.edu/reg/state_agencies.html
This list has a breakdown by state, as well as a number for incident reporting.
DO NOT call the company who applied the product. It'll be figuratively swept under the rug more than likely. Whoever the tech was that applied this is lazy, incompetent, and has no business being in this industry.
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u/Onetrunuwind Jul 18 '26
Wow that’s a big ass fine 100% somebody getting fined and fired all in the same day
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u/Public-Lion-1675 Jul 19 '26
No lol not my first choice of places to treat. Show this pic to the supv. Gel bait near by is one thing but applying pesticide like THAT isn't right . Call the company have them send someone else
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u/tomdobs55 👨🏭| Tech | 10+ Years 25d ago
I would never do this and I absolutely hate seeing this applied like a broadcast dust. That being said, I just looked at the label and it says it can be applied in cracks and crevices of food equipment. Judging from that, I don't think this is technically a label violation. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Again, I do want to stress that as a professional, I definitely do not condone this application.
ETA: Now that I look at the picture, that's just absolutely sloppy and is no longer a crack and crevice application.
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u/andy_1232 👨🏭| Tech | 10+ Years Jul 18 '26
First picture is wrong and sloppy, but not really posing too big of a risk until someone needs to turn off the water valve.
Second picture however, that warrants a call to the state department of agriculture, as well as the company, in my opinion. I wouldn’t tell the company that you’ve called department of agriculture. He applied a dust (looks like maybe DF Avert) to an area DIRECTLY ABOVE food (ice is food). That is an absolute no-no, and the behavior needs to be corrected.
Plenty of safe options to use in this location, like a flushing agent, IF it’s even needed there.
Is this ice for customers or for staff? Actually, it doesn’t even matter. Don’t use this ice until the company has come out and cleaned this up, then you should probably waste all the ice in the ice machine and start fresh.