Insecticides may have gotten rid of your house’s pests, but the chemicals can linger.
Scientists from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency swabbed the floors of 500 randomly selected homes, focusing on the kitchens, to check for insecticide residue.
Permethrin, used on crops, pets and human heads (to treat lice), was most common, found in 89 percent of homes. Chlorpyrifos, used to control cockroaches and other pests, was found in 78 percent of homes. Then came chlordane (which, notably, has been banned since 1988), piperonyl butoxide, cypermethrin and fipronil.
The study’s abstract concludes: “Results show that most floors in occupied homes in the U.S. have measurable levels of insecticides that may serve as sources of exposure to occupants.”
