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Natural Dust Insecticides
- Effective, low toxicity alternatives -
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Summary: Several natural insecticides that are formulated as dusts can be used in a variety of pest control situations. These dust insecticides tend to be both highly effective and relatively safe when used correctly.
Jack DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
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What is a natural dust insecticide?
 Insecticides are available in a variety of different forms, or formulations. Some are liquids that need to be diluted with water pior to use, some are powders that are mixed with water prior to use, and still others are powders that are applied dry. Insecticides in the last group are generally called dust insecticides. The first widely used insecticide was a dust called "insect powder", made from the ground leaves of the chrysanthemum flower.
Natural dust insecticides are made from natural materials such as the minerals borate and silica, or from plants. There are also conventional, synthetic insecticides that are manufactured as dusts, so not all dust insecticides are necessarily natural.
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Silica dust & diatomaceous earth
Silica dust is often combined with the natural insecticide pyrethrum and a synthetic compound called piperonyl butoxide (PBO), but it can also be used alone. Natural silica comes from two sources. Amorphous silica which is manufactured by heating ordinary sand to a high temperature and diatomaceous earth which comes from the skeletons of tiny marine organisms called diatoms.
Silica is a desiccant that destroys the waxy covering that protects insects against water loss. Pyrethrum and PBO are added to increase insect movement by stimulating their nervous systems. This brings the insects into contact with the silica dust more readily. Silica dust must be kept dry to be effective so is often used indoors or in gardens only during dry periods.
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Silica dusts are especially useful as crack and crevice treatments for bed bugs, in food handling areas for cockroaches and nuisance ants, and as wall void treatments for carpenter ants. While diatomaceous earth is sometimes suggested as a carpet treatment for fleas there are much better materials now available for flea control. The most common silica-based products used for pest control are the products "Drione" and "Tri-Die".
Boric acid & borate dust
Borates are the sodium salts of boric acid. Borates are minerals and have a wide variety of industrial uses as additives, wood preservatives, insecticides, plant nutrients, and detergents. Borates act mainly as "stomach poisons" when formulated in baits for ant and cockroach control or used as dry powders or liquids on surfaces. Borate dust remains active as long as it stays dry and undisturbed. The product Timbor, for example, is very effective for powderpost beetles and dry rot fungi as a surface spray and for carpenter ants as a wall void dust treatment. Borate powder also is used to treat carpets for fleas. However, as with diatomaceous earth, there are better materials now available for flea control. See Related Articles below for much more information about boric acid and borate insecticide.
Botanical, plant-based dusts
Botanical dusts are both the oldest and the newest natural dust insecticides. Dusts made from the ground, dried flowers of the chrysanthemum plant, containing the natural insecticide pyrethrum, are among the oldest commonly-used insecticides. On the other hand, some of the newest botanical (plant-based) dusts contain natural plant oils in combination with some kind of dry carrier such as silica. Use the Related Articles below for much more information about dust insectcides in general as well as how they are used.
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Mission: To provide accurate, up-to-date and unbiased information for solving common insect and mite problems around your home, business and landscape using least-toxic methods.
Jack DeAngelis, Ph.D.
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Copyright © 2004-... LivingWithBugs, LLC. All rights reserved. Page Updated: 11/7/2009
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