Return to
Index Page
This compilation of news reports on VIKANE began on
July 22, 2005.
Please share the stories in your local press with us.
Date |
Article |
Source |
March 25, 2006 |
Fire in
fumigated building prompts 300 to evacuate.
NATIONAL CITY – More than 300 people
were evacuated from their homes last night when a three-alarm
fire broke out in a D Avenue apartment
building filled with fumigation chemicals... Firefighters
arrived to see flames coming through the roof. “As we
peeled away the tent, we got more active flames,” Condon
said. “Our concern was for the Vikane in the smoke,”
he said. The thick column of smoke rose
straight up into the still night air...
|
By Pauline Repard.
San Diego UnionTribune (Calif.). |
October
11, 2005 |
October
2005 - NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When pest management professionals
arrive in Music City for PestWorld 2005, they will visit the
15th most termite-infested major city in the United States.
Since its inception 10 years ago, the Sentricon® [Hexaflumuron]
Termite Colony Elimination System has been installed on more
than 76,000 sites throughout the state, a number slightly less
than the entire population of Tennessee when it became a state
in 1796... At PestWorld 2005,
Dow AgroSciences is sponsoring the Saturday
Opening General Session, where attendees will have the opportunity
to hear keynote speaker Tom Ridge, former Homeland Security
Advisor.
The Dow AgroSciences booth, themed “Don’t
Gamble on Termite Control,” will feature Texas Hold‘em
poker and other related activities and giveaways. Visitors
to the booth will have the opportunity to learn about Dow AgroSciences
entire portfolio of products, including Vikane®
gas fumigant and Halo™ Electronic Termite Detection.
|
Dow
to introduce new products, enhancements at PestWorld 2005.
PCT (Pest Conrol Technology) website.
http://www.pctonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=3779
|
August
5, 2005 |
It's
not the circus, it's the inn!.
... More
than 20 workmen helped swath the 1.2-million-cubic-foot building
in rubberized tarps that would contain 350
pounds of Vikane insecticidal gas. First,
the Inn would be flooded with chloropicrin, a type of tear
gas, to flush out anybody lurking inside and prevent break-ins
while the Inn was unoccupied... |
The Boca
Beacon (Boca Grande, Florida) |
August
5, 2005 |
Police:
Woman Found In Fumigated Building Didn't Kill Herself
Detectives Say Safety Guidelines May
Have Been Violated
SAN
DIEGO -- A police investigation indicated
a San Diego woman did not commit suicide when she died inside
a condominium that was being fumigated for termites.
The
body of the woman was found inside the North Park building
in March, hours after fumigators injected a deadly gas.
The
president of the Homeowners' Association said Williams must
have climbed into the building after it was tented.
The
fumigation company said it followed all the safety guidelines.
Homicide
detectives, though, now say there may have been violations
of state law. They have forwarded the case to the district
attorney's office, which may file criminal charges.
The
fumigation company did not return phone calls seeking comment.
*
Note from FAN: Sulfuryl fluoride VIKANE was used as the
fumigant. See articles below: March 9 and March 10, 2005.
|
NBC SanDiego.com |
July 29,
2005 |
Fines
upheld in cat deaths.
Appeal denied; fumigators held responsible.
...
Central Coast Exterminator Co. of Salinas was fined $2,750
and Mission City Fumigation Co. of San Jose $2,500
after the agricultural commissioner's office investigated
the deaths of neighbors' cats that crawled into clients'
houses in Carmel Valley on Sept. 22
and in Carmel on Oct. 6, according to Monterey County
Assistant Agricultural Commissioner Bob Roach... At
the June hearings, Deputy Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner
Ken Allen said the two pest control companies failed to
follow labeling instructions on the Vikane containers they
used...
|
By Kevin
Howe.
Monterey County Herald (California). |
July 28,
2005 |
Teacher
forfeits fumigation fight.
...
members of the Newport Condominium Assn.'s board are united
in their belief that the pesticide Vikane is the only way
to eliminate termites in the community... From
1997 through 2001, 32 illnesses or injuries related to sulfuryl
fluoride exposure were reported to state authorities, according
to a study by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.
|
By Andrew
Edwards.
Daily Pilot (California). |
July 18,
2005 |
Termite
trouble threatens day care
Condo
board orders fumigation, but owner of preschool says toxins
could harm children.
|
By Michael
Miller
Daily Pilot (California) |
June 28,
2005 |
|
By Kevin
Howe Monterey County Herald (California)
|
June
17, 2005 |
Pest
control companies fight fines in deaths of pet cats
Felines
were overcome by poisonous gas during fumigation of homes
|
By KEVIN
HOWE
Monterey County Herald (California) |
March 10,
2005 |
Fault
is disputed in death, gassing. Woman was inside a tented
building.
State
officials said it was apparently the
third such death in recent years.
|
By Kristen
Green.
The San Diego Union-Tribune (California). |
March 9,
2005 |
Calif.
woman dies after building fumigated
SAN
DIEGO - A woman died after a fumigation
crew pumped toxic gas into her condominium building to kill
termites, authorities said...
|
MICHELLE
MORGANTE
Associated Press |
Deaths
from Vikane fumigation |
Note:
Information on the number of human deaths as a result of fumigation
with Vikane is not accessible. We will add information to this
section as we find it. |
March 10,
2005 |
Fault
is disputed in death, gassing. Woman was inside a tented building.
By Kristen Green. The San Diego Union-Tribune (California).
"State
officials said it was apparently the
third such death in recent years." |
Mentioned
in 2002 |
(page
15)
... Otis Woods, Pioneer Pest Services.
" I have a pest control business here or in San
Juan up in Dallas, but the situation coming that's up right
now about fumigation, we lost a guy who was using Sulfuryl
Fluoride, Vikane. It is very dangerous.
(page
23)
Mr. Burnett: Otis, you had mentioned you "lost a guy".
He is deceased?
Mr. Woods: Yes.
Mr. Burnett: If I could ask some follow-up questions to you
with that. What kind of training had the deceased received?
Mr. Woods: Really the training that he had was just for putting
the tarps up. Knowing how to roll the tarps, you know, and
sealing the house. He didn't deal with the gases at all.
Mr. Burnett: Okay, and how long had this person been on this
type of work?
Mr. Woods: Couple of years.
Mr. Burnett: Couple of years.
Mr. Woods: About two years I believe.
Ref: February
12, 2002. MINUTES. Structural Pest Control Board. Austin,
Texas.
Part
1 and Part 2 |
Cited in 1991 |
A
25 year old man
with postmortem blood alcohol level of 0.156% was found lifeless
in a residence that had been fumigated with sulfuryl fluoride
under canvas.
Ref: Hayes, W.J., Jr., E.R. Laws, Jr., (eds.). Handbook of Pesticide
Toxicology. Volume 2. Classes of Pesticides. New York, NY: Academic
Press, Inc., 1991., p. 564.
Source: Hazardous Substances Data Bank at Toxnet |
September
25, 1986 |
2 Fatalities
Resulting From Sulfuryl Fluoride Exposure After Home Fumigation
-- Virginia.
Two fatalities occurred when the owners of a home re-entered
after the dwelling had been fumigated with 250 pounds of sulfuryl
fluoride. The concentration to which the occupants were exposed
was not determined. The man died within
24 hr, and the woman expired 6 days after exposure. Signs
of intoxication included severe dyspnea, cough, generalized
seizure, cardiopulmonary arrest (in the male), and weakness,
anorexia, nausea, repeated vomiting, and hypoxemia; ventricular
fibrillation and diffuse pulmonary infiltration were also reported
in the female.
References:
• MMWR,
Sept. 18, 1987 and
• American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists,
Inc. Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values and Biological
Exposure Indices. 6th ed. Volumes I, II, III. Cincinnati, OH:
ACGIH, 1991., p. 1471 (Source: Hazardous Substances Data Bank
at Toxnet) |
|