Dursban History

The common pesticide dursban (also known as chlorpyrifos) has been linked with causing many illnesses over the past 10 -15 years.  Dursban, made by Dow Chemical, is still routinely used by homeowners and pest control companies for indoor roach and ant treatments, yard turf grass applications and used to saturate the soil as a termite preventative just prior to pouring of the concrete foundation.  However, their has been a growing list of research studies linking dursban with a variety of health disorders after even normal use.  These can be seen at www.chem-tox.com

How is Dursban Used?

 Customary practices for homes in the U.S. call for 100 gallons of dursban to be sprayed over the soil per 1000 square feet of home area.   Therefore,  a 2,000 square foot home would have 200 gallons of dursban dumped into the soil just prior to the concrete foundation of the home being poured.  Currently, this is not a state law, however, most mortgage lenders require a termite treatment in order to safeguard their investment.

Indoor air guidelines for dursban are 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air (5ug/m3).   This level has been found to be dangerously breached by indoor flea applications and reaches borderline evacuation levels in many homes which have had dursban applied as a termite treatment pesticide. 

Why Did Dursban Come into Use?

Dursban became popular in the early 1990's for termite treatment applications because the pesticide chlordane was pulled from use as the country's main termite treatment chemical.  Chlordane was stopped because of accumulating research linking it with serious health problems.  For more information on health problems caused by the pesticide dursban please visit www.chem-tox.com

Information has been compiled by Wayne Sinclair, M.D., and Richard Pressinger M.Ed., Tampa, Florida - Chem-Tox Research