Generic introduction.
To the ones mentioned in these "RE" post: Here lies my reply to your post or comment, please find your name accordingly to see my reply FOR there may be more than one reply.
I do tend to explore into the info and well, I want to share some of that too. See what we all can learn from it.
Also your more than welcome to read other replies from others comments.
A link to this post has also been provided to each of your comment(s) or post(s).
In order from most recent to oldest from notifications:
Antisocialist:
Diatomaceous earth is the bane of all cockroaches.
It's non-toxic.
Ground up dirt, there are food grades you can get for parasites in you,
I think I rather drink a few shots of sotol to desparasitar.
but its cheap version is dirt with sharp edges and dusting a roach is a death sentence.
Any hardware store should have it in bulk
Thank for that advice. Now to look into what that is more.
Edit: I looked into the ferreterías hardware stores here, no luck. Have to go into the capital to get it. No big deal. I go there almost daily. It's basically sedimentary rock with fossils, algae fossils specifically.
I laid some basic info below for anyone reading this who may be interested.
Diatomic Pesticides?
What is Diatomaceous earth? Where does diatomic molecules come from? Where is it found in nature? What other uses does it have? How safe is it?
Let's find out.
Diatomite rock sample from Sisquoc Formation
source: wiki
What is sisquoc formation?
Sedimentary rock basically, but in this special case, fossil dust from algae mixed in?
Diatomaceous earth consists of the fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled microalgae.[3]
Huh... Interesting. Didn't know algae was so lethal in fossil form against bugs.
I just throw some rocks at these quitters and problem solved essentially.
Anyways...
Playing with the words a little.
From etymonline
diatom (n.)
"microscopic unicellular algae," 1845, from Modern Latin genus name Diatoma, coined from Greek diatomos "cut in two," from diatemnein "to cut through," from dia "through" (see dia-) + temnein "to cut" (from PIE root *tem- "to cut"). So called because they typically appear to have been cut in half. Related: Diatomic; diatomaceous
More info from Wikipedia
It is used as a filtration aid, mild abrasive in products including metal polishes and toothpaste,
What, toothpaste?
Oh no Reddit humor coming up.
Continuing...
mechanical insecticide,
As you said before, it's great to kill roaches.
absorbent for liquids, matting agent for coatings, reinforcing filler in plastics and rubber, anti-block in plastic films, porous support for chemical catalysts, cat litter,
And for cat litter. Interesting. Me having cats this may be a worthwhile investment. I may get a whole sack or two of this. Or a pallets worth maybe. Sell it by the kilo since none exists in this town. Evil laugh.
activator in coagulation studies, a stabilizing component of dynamite, a thermal insulator, and a soil for potted plants and trees as in the art of bonsai.[4][5]
Well I'm not in the dynamite making business, yet lol, but to be used as soil for pottery, cat litter, pesticides, very interesting.
Many uses more.
Here's a fact sheet on this product from the national pesticide information center. Apparently it's even essential for fortification of bone strength. Go figure.
It's not so bad at all. Just use appropriate masks, long sleeves, gloves and safety glasses as far as I can tell when handling a lot. Otherwise it's one seriously bad cough one will have. But once it gets wet it's even safer.
So no real harm except for excessive lung exposure, and then there's that rat study about cancer. But nothing serious...
Thank you for sharing, it's been an adventure reading a bunch today about diatoms.
Killed 2 hours there lol
Cheers mate.
The dust is sharp and cuts into the shells of exoskeletons allowing the moisture to come out.
If you hit one with a pinch of powder, it's done.
Boric acid is another roach killer.
Not real toxic, they use it in eye surgury.
It is the primary ingredient of roachpruf.
I've dusted houses with roachpruf that had trails running across the walls, it took a month, but they were gone for 2 years after that.
Both are very effective for most household pests.
Neither is a danger to you or the pets at household exposure levels.
Just sweep the powder into the corners and under the cabinet drawers.
For humans death by dehydration is considered one of the gentler ways of dying. 7 days and your out.
For insects, it's a matter of a few minutes at most as the diatomaceous powder sucks essential oils and moisture. How much pain they feel I can only imagine it is close to nothing but the cuts they certainly will feel those.
Hopefully they don't evolve to resist that too and start to see them do lines like a cover addict with that stuff.
Yeah my pets would be my top concern but I see that it's safe to use, especially since it can be applied in places they won't be able to reach.