Our Guide To Screening Products
Updated October 30, 2023
When Solutions Pest & Lawn was founded in 1958, we had one ultimate goal in mind: to supply the best pest control products for each, unique person.
For over 60 years, we have eliminated the guesswork in pest control product selection by helping our customers diagnose the problem and identify the pest, prescribe a treatment plan using professional products, and teaching how to use the products safely and effectively.
Now, we have brought our decades' worth of expertise to our website to help our customers feel confident that the products they want are the products they need. By leveraging your data and our intelligent formulation and ingredient algorithms, we make it easy to understand whether a product is right for you.
How do we do this?
We screen thousands of products against property characteristics, including common pest activity, building siding, grass types, climate, and more to identify if a product is right for you. We instantly cross reference products with your property profile and display it right on the product page, and our pest control experts use it to make educated decisions when building the perfect pest treatment plan.
Our second goal was to invest in transparency. To that end, we are compiling this guide to breakdown exactly what we screened for and why.
While we looked at many products, formulations, and ingredients please note that there are thousands of ingredients used to create products and that this list is not exhaustive.
If you have any recommendations you want to suggest for us to screen and include in our findings, please let us know.
Always read product label directions before applying any product.
Table of Contents
- Brick
- Metal
- Stone Veneer
- Wood
- Vinyl
- Bentgrass
- Bermudagrass
- Bluegrass, Kentucky
- Fescue, Fine
- Fescue, Tall
- Kikuyugrass
- Ryegrass
- St. Augustine Grass
- Zoysiagrass
- Caution
- Warning
- Danger
- Food-bearing Plants
- Grazing Animals
- Streams/Ponds/Lakes
- Commercial Kitchens
Home Siding
When it comes to shopping and applying pest control products, you will want to consider what kind of siding your home or building has before choosing or using your product.
Pest control products are formulated in different ways and their various by-products may react in different ways to surfaces.
Below we have listed some formulations and some of the most common building siding that may not be a good fit, whether that be due to potential siding damage or reduced efficacy of products.
Brick
Product types that may affect this siding: Emulsifiable Concentrates.
Why: Emulsifiable Concentrates (EC) will actually seep into the porous surface, making it less effective on contact.
Metal
Product types that may affect this siding: Water Soluble Powder
Why: Products formulated as water soluble powders may not be efffective in metal siding as these products are generally recommended to be used on more porous surfaces, like brick.
Stone Veneer
Product types that may affect this siding: Emulsifiable Concentrates.
Why: Emulsifiable Concentrates (EC) will actually seep into the porous surface, making it less effective on contact.
Wood
Product types that may affect this siding: Emulsifiable Concentrates.
Why: Emulsifiable Concentrates (EC) will actually seep into the porous surface, making it less effective on contact.
Vinyl
Product types that may affect this siding: Emulsifiable Concentrates.
Why: Emulsifiable Concentrates (EC) contain larger concentration of solvents in its formulation, it can damage some materials like rubber and stain surfaces, such as vinyl.
Grass Type
Like home siding, you will also want to consider what type of turf your property has. Rather than focusing on formulations, we instead looked at common lawn care active ingredients and which grass type they would be best suited for.
Below is a list of common grass types and the active ingredients you will want to think about using if you are not targeting your turf.
Bentgrass
Active ingredients that may affect this turf:
- 2,4-D Ester
- Atrazine
- Benefin
- Foramsulfuron
- Fluazifop
- Glyphosate
- (MSMA) Monosodium Acid Methanearsonate
- Napropamide
- Oryzalin
- Oxadiazon
- Pendimethalin
- Prodiamine
- Pronamide
- Triclopyr
- Trifloxysulfuron
Bermudagrass
Active ingredients that may affect this turf:
- Fluazifop
- Glyphosate
Bluegrass, Kentucky
Active ingredients that may affect this turf:
- Atrazine
- Bispyribac Sodium
- Fluazifop
- Foramsulfuron
- Glyphosate
- Oryzalin
- Pronamide
- Trifloxysulfuron
Fescue, Fine
Active ingredients that may affect this turf:
- Atrazine
- Ethofumesate
- Foramsulfuron
- Glyphosate
- Oryzalin
- Pronamide
- Quinclorac
- Trifloxysulfuron
Fescue, Tall
Active ingredients that may affect this turf:
- Atrazine
- Chlorsulfuron
- Fluazifop
- Foramsulfuron
- Glyphosate
- Oryzalin
- Penoxsulam
- Pronamide
- Quinclorac
- Trifloxysulfuron
Kikuyugrass
Active ingredients that may affect this turf:
- DSMA (Disodium Methyl Arsonate)
- Fluazifop
- Glyphosate
- MSMA (Monosodium Acid Methanearsonate)
- Quinclorac
- Triclopyr
- Trifloxysulfuron
Ryegrass
Active ingredients that may affect this turf:
- Atrazine
- Chlorsulfuron
- Flauzifop
- Foramsulfuron
- Glyphosate
- Oryzalin
- Penoxsulam
- Pronamide
- Trifloxysulfuron
St. Augustine Grass
Active ingredients that may affect this turf:
- 2,4-D Amine
- 2,4-D Ester
- Dicamba
- DSMA (Disodium Methyl Arsonate)
- Fenarimol
- Glyphosate
- Metsulfuron
- MSMA (Monosodium Acid Methanearsonate)
- Napropamide
- Pronamide
- Sulfosulfuron
- Triclopyr
- Trifloxysulfuron
Zoysiagrass
Active ingredients that may affect this turf:
- 2,4-D Ester
- Dicamba
- DSMA (Disodium Methyl Arsonate)
- Ethofumesate
- Flauzifop
- Glyphosate
- Oryzalin
- Oxadiazon
- Pendimethalin
- Pronamide
- Simazine
- Sulfosulfuron
- Triclopyr
Signal Words
Understanding the toxicity of the pesticide material you are using not only protects your health, but also ensures the safety of others. A key piece of information included on every pesticide label is the signal word that tells the user how toxic the product is to people and animals.
Every pesticide label has some level of toxicity to it and the EPA requires that a signal word appears on each label. There are only three signal word options and one of them will appear in capital letters on the front of the label: CAUTION, WARNING, or DANGER.
Familiarity with each of these signal words is crucial as some situations may require a certain level of toxicity to get the job done. In some cases, you may find that the product you intended to use may not be appropriate for the way you plan to use it.
For the purpose of our product screening, the key piece if information we are looking at is whether something is acutely toxic or not. What this means is that we are looking at products that can pose an immediate health risk. These items we are marking as Danger so that users who have children or pets on their properties will be aware that the item they are using is acutely toxic.
Keep in mind that no matter what the signal word is all chemical products will pose at least some risk, but as long as you follow the product label instructions then people and pets can be protected.
Caution
Okay when children or pets are on the property? Yes
Why: The product is low in toxicity, being only mildly toxic if eaten, absorbed through the skin, inhaled, or has a slight potential to cause illness or skin irritation.
Products with the Caution signal word is okay because it is not deemed acutely toxic and can be used on properties which have children or pets when used following label directions.
Products of this type you may be familiar with:
- Raid® Insecticide
- Ortho® Home Defense®
- Talstar P
Warning
Okay when children or pets are on the property? Yes
Why: This product is moderately toxic if eaten, absorbed through the skin, inhaled, or it causes moderate eye or skin irritation.
Products with the Warning signal word have a little more toxicity, but are okay because it is not deemed acutely toxic and can be used on properties which have children or pets when used following label directions.
Products of this type you may be familiar with:
- Dawn® Dish Soap
- Germ-X® Hand Sanitizer
- Formula 409® Multi-Surface Cleaner
- Alligare Super Marking Dye
Danger
Okay when children or pets are on the property? No
Why: This product is highly toxic through one of the way of exposures. If it just states "danger" then it may be corrosive, causing irreversible damage to the skin and eyes.
Alternatively, if the product is acutely toxic when eaten, absorbed through the skin, or inhaled, then the label must also show the word "poison" in red letters on the front panel of the label.
Popular products of this type:
- Clorox® Toilet Bowl Cleaner
- Scrubbing Bubbles® Cleaner
- WD-40®
- Martin's Gopher Bait 50 (Strychnine)
Property Characteristics
Pesticides serve many purposes around their labeled sites and depending on where they are used can fully control your weed or pest infestation.
Although many pesticides have multiple treatments areas, not every location will be treated the same. The same is true for the way that product can be applied to the target site.
We have screened for property characteristics that see restrictions on products with certain ingredients. These are listed below as well as common pesticides to avoid when treating these areas.
Food-bearing Plants
Product Ingredients With Restrictions: Fipronil, Imidacloprid, Bifenthrin, Permethrin, Acephate
Why: Products with a systemic mode of action are taken up inside the plant, typically through the root system, so that the entire foliage contains the chemical. For this reason, systemic pesticides are not ideal for food bearing plants. And of course, this could be harmful to pollinators as they collect pollen or feed on treated foliage.
Popular products of this type:
- Premise 2F
- Talstar P
- Dragnet SFR
- Orthene 97
Grazing Animals
Product Ingredients With Restrictions: Picloram, Imazapyr
Why: Products containing Picloram and Imazapyr are often used in pastures or fields for brush and weed control. These should not be used on grasses that see grazing animals, such as cows, goats, or other livestock.
Popular products of this type:
- Grazon P+D
- Triumph 22K
- TVC: Total Vegetation Control
Streams/Ponds/Lakes
Product Ingredients With Restrictions: Fipronil
Why: Pyrethroids such as Fipronil are extremely toxic to aquatic organisms like fish and should be given specific care around water bodies.
Popular products of this type:
- Navigator SC
- Termidor SC
- Fuse
Commercial Kitchens
Product Ingredients With Restrictions: Acephate, Fipronil, Imidacloprid
Why: Particular care should be taken with systemic insecticides with ingredients listed above as they shoulld require specific care in commercial kitchens and should be only applied by certified applicators.
Popular products of this type:
- Maxforce FC
- Orthene Pellets
- Termidor Foam
