Stan Ketchum is the owner and founder of Ketchum Pest Control, which provides services to the northwest corner of Indiana. His company can help customers get rid of termites, ants, cockroaches, wasps, fleas, raccoons, squirrels, mice, rats, bats, snakes, and other creatures that bother them. Family-run and operated, the company aims to use non-toxic substances that are child- and pet-friendly as much as possible. Here, he explains the Indiana state law which applies to pesticides pest control providers.
Indiana’s law on pest control states that if you are not being paid to deal with a pest control problem (i.e. you are not a licensed pest control service provider), you are allowed to use any substance/method you want to get rid of unwanted animals and/or insects in your house. But if you are a licensed and paid pest control provider, then you must adhere to certain regulations. You are only allowed to use pesticides that are on an approved list from Purdue University’s Office of Indiana State Chemist.
Let’s say you have cockroaches, but don’t want to use toxic materials to kill them. You call Ketchum Pest Control. It would be illegal for our company to, for example, catch the bugs one at a time and drown them in a glass of water since in Indiana, water is not an approved pesticide. But the customer who called you would be allowed to use the water because they are not a licensed pest control service provider.
In Michigan, which shares a border with Indiana to our state’s north, the pest control laws are quite different. There, a professional can use anything to get rid of pests on a client’s property, as long as he has the owner’s approval. I myself have a non-toxic pesticide which I got in Michigan and I only use on my own property in that state. It works well.
The reason that the authorities give for this Indiana state law is that there has been too much fraud in the area, with people posing as pest control professionals and using ineffective means to eradicate pests. The authorities only want quality products to be sold and used, which makes sense. But a cynic would tell you that there is a high degree of collaboration between the pest control products industry and the people who regulate the Office of Indiana State Chemist at Purdue University.
I understand New York is quite restrictive too. Here in Florida we had rogue operators as well which is the reason we have many non sensical rules. Landscapers cannot use weed killers in anything more than a 3 gallon hand pump-Bug trucks cannot use magnet signs- home inspectors cannot do termite inspections and certified pest operators are prohibited from having any other job.
But if you are a golf course you can buy and use products and equipment with hardly any restrictions. A lot of their products I can't even buy and I have been licensed in this state since 1991.
The Bug Doctor – March 10, 2010 , 1:08 AM