Haha...I'm not a vegetarian but used to be but ever since that info I came across definitely changed my eating habits a bit. It's what you do most of the time that really counts. Even though I'm very health conscious I don't get in a twist about things cause life ain't perfect. Like Dr. Dank said with vinyl off gassing. No way to get around being exposed to stuff...but I wouldn't take a bath in dichlorvos...lol.

I work in the health food industry and over the years had to do research, read MSDS's, do chemical residue tests, etc. When it came to using the strips I had no problem with em.

[paulobaca]

If you google "no pest strips snake mites" you will discover that snake mites are to to reptile owners what "spidermites" are to cultivators.

As in our world, the no pest strips are contreversial in the reptile world as well.
I have read about growers spending several hours in a room with nps strips and getting bloody noses. Bloody noses have been reported in snakes as well (the snake I read about recovered several hours later).

There is no doubt that the NPS strips have killed and saved many reptiles. I even found some vet recommendations that were interesting such as never use a brand new strip with a live reptile.

Some advocate using the strip for steralizing the cage while the reptile is quaranteened somewhere else.

The previous post about Spider mites building tolerance to NPS in a room with open vents is true in my exprnce. I had an vented room and they never worked, no matter how many I put up. They would crawl right next to the strips. Once I sealed my room it was like genocide in there.

In my opinion, NPS strips are most useful in flower when you cant spray them. If you have a problem try to handle chit by leaving a bunch up for 1 week and put them away and keep your chit clean.

One very prestigous botanical researcher I spoke with (a UC Davis Prof) always stessed dosage when I talked to him about chemicals and toxicity.
He would tell me that anything is fatal in high enough dosage, even neem.
I would highly discourage anybody for using them an entire grow based on this principal.

[Haps]

When I first tried these, they seemed to stop working after a month, that was when I realized that having a fan blow on it seemed to deplete it much faster than the four month time frame. I was concerned initially, but the fact that it breaks down pretty quickly made me feel better. My thinking is a new one at the start of bloom, removed after the stretch, should kill all bugs, then dissapate before the flowers get sticky. I may be wrong, but I eat a lot of my weed and have not had any neg effect, and I get annual blood tests for heart problems, and have no issue shown up there either. Good to be on top of it.

Why the name Mr. Hades?

H

[Mr.Hades]

Hmm... Good posts guys..

I dont know why my screenname is Mr.Hades.... Had it since Overgrow, and since I can remember.

Originally Posted by paulobaca

I have read about growers spending several hours in a room with nps strips and getting bloody noses. Bloody noses have been reported in snakes as well (the snake I read about recovered several hours later).

The previous post about Spider mites building tolerance to NPS in a room with open vents is true in my exprnce. I had an vented room and they never worked, no matter how many I put up. They would crawl right next to the strips. Once I sealed my room it was like genocide in there.

In my opinion, NPS strips are most useful in flower when you cant spray them. If you have a problem try to handle chit by leaving a bunch up for 1 week and put them away and keep your chit clean.

One very prestigous botanical researcher I spoke with (a UC Davis Prof) always stessed dosage when I talked to him about chemicals and toxicity.
He would tell me that anything is fatal in high enough dosage, even neem.
I would highly discourage anybody for using them an entire grow based on this principal.

First I would not, nor recommend to anybody, they spend a lot of time in a room with these things unless it's lights on in an open system and you have a good air exchange going. Even then only if you absolutely have to and no reason you should have to. I went into the room just before the lights went off and hung then pulled down when the ventilation kicked on when the lights came on. I also have ALWAYS vented my exhaust outside so would be different if someone is venting filtered air back into the house. While the carbon should clean up a lot I still would not do it.

"Once I sealed my room it was like genocide in there" That's the only way they are effective in my experience. I used them for a few days a week apart and eliminated a large thrip infestation and the beginning stages of a mite infestation in a friends space. Never used em again cause for starters it's very rare pests ever get into a room I'm dealing with. I take a lot of precautions and pays off. Filtered air, clean clothes, treat and quarantine cuts when I get em from someone, etc.

Yeah that dosage thing is basically referred to as LD50 (the amount of something that is a lethal dose for 50% of the test animals) when testing for toxicity. Problem also is chronic low grade exposure and not just getting hit hard all at once.

Originally Posted by Haps

When I first tried these, they seemed to stop working after a month, that was when I realized that having a fan blow on it seemed to deplete it much faster than the four month time frame.

Just trying to understand how you determined they stopped working after a month. Were pests continually entering your room? Were pests not there for a month then reappeared soon after?

Originally Posted by NOYB

Problem also is chronic low grade exposure and not just getting hit hard all at once.

Nobody really dies from a one time exposure to insecticides but if you look at stats of like migrant farm workers who are chronically exposed to stuff like this they have way more medical problems and it's hard for medical science to trace the source of these medical problems to a specific incident of exposure.

It's the chronic low grade exposure to everything in the environment that causes a lot of illness in people but the epa and FDA just measure how toxic something is by a one time exposure which IMO is a serious diservive to the population and they do this because these big companies lobby them a lot, so don't look to the gov to tell you if something is safe.

[greenpheen]

Great thread Mr. hades, thanks for passing that knowledge around. I will be using these on my first grow pretty soon. They still seem sketchy though. Hmmmm

[grynch]

yes this has been very helpful 2 me thanks Mr. Hades

I use mine like this right now but I've considered throwing them out because I've been aware of the risks.

Do you think it's a problem to have it in there with the exhaust turned off so it works at night, then removing them and turning on the exhaust during light's on?

Would a carbon scrubber remove the toxic elements from air that passes through it? I'm wondering because I exhaust into another room of the house and will stop doing so if the fumes can survive a carbon filter.