If you own a dwelling , or contemplate owning one , just the mention of termites in all likelihood place frisson down your spine . They have been called everything from white ants to insect terrorist , but whatever nickname you give them , termite are risky news . They cost U.S. consumers about $ 5 billion dollars each year and do n’t show signs of stopping any prison term before long [ source : Environmental Protection Agency ] .
Although there are more than 2,000 white ant species , the variety show most responsible for for damage to homes in the United States are subterraneous . Because they inhabit underground , they can be inconspicuous until an plague is pretty advanced . subterraneous termite eat Ellen Price Wood from the inside out , so you wo n’t necessarily realize that your Ellen Price Wood is being hollowed out through termite activity because they leave the outer layers entire . They ’re insidious and sneaky , but they are n’t invincible .
To enkindle a line of defense against termite , builders and manufacturer have come up with a issue of clever way to protect the woodwind instrument in your rest home and shore up openings in your basis that can let the voracious encroacher in . From produce unappetizing or insecticide - impregnated wood products , to devising physical barrier or obstacle courses to thwart the cuss , the human versus termite wars continue . One big weapon in the fight is copper .
Copper draw a secure biocide . It has applications as an insecticide , algaecide , bactericide and fungicide . Research is being conducted that tests its ability to stamp out bacteria on vulgar object that can transfer cold-blooded and flu germs , like doorknobs , and it has a full putting to death charge per unit when used to battle termite .
In the next few varlet , we ’ll take a look at termites and how fuzz is being used to battle them . First up , let ’s learn a slight more about the enemy .
The Termite Scourge
termite live in dependency that can number in the 100 of thou . They take shape castes , such as soldiers , actor and reproductives , which have specialized job . When a termite group or settlement becomes large and well - institute , special young , winged termites fly off in spring to take up a raw settlement . This swarm of winged termites can multiply when they incur a suitable location and are sometimes the first sign a homeowner has that there are termites in the vicinity . It takes a number of years for a colony to become large enough to start out producing reproductives .
From their nest , subterranean termites make a complex connection of tunnels that can scatter underground C of feet in any direction . They build tunnels take care for source of food , typically wood and beginning , and when they find a good solid food seed , like your house or garage , they set up workshop and start up eating .
Even though they can be tough to spot , specially at first , termite do leave signs of their presence . If you recall there may be termite in the region , spring is a great sentence to keep an middle out . Swarming termite are attracted to light , so see around the exterior lights and windows of your home for toss wings or dead white ant . Reproductives shed their backstage when they find novel homes . Termite annexe are tenacious and svelte and can be discover from those of flying ants by their sizing . A white ant ’s wings are long than its consistence , while a fly ant ’s annex are about the same length as its body . examine any cobweb on your attribute for retentive , slender white ant wings is another upright means to check for sign of the zodiac that termites are nearby . If you see shed wings inside your home , it ’s time to call a termite professional .
Another elbow room to identify the presence of termites is to look for stalactites made of dry mud or narrow-minded , prospicient tubes made of mud between your beams or along your foundation . Termites protect themselves from depredation by ants and from the elements by progress above - ground burrow shelters to get from place to piazza when they ca n’t travel underground . These tunnel are between a 1/4 of an in to an in panoptic ( 6.35 to 25.4 mm ) and can be an denotation that you have termites . A good way find out if the insects are actively feed in or near your home is to demolish part of a suspected burrow and see if they rebuild it [ source : Jones ] .
In the next section , we ’ll take a look at how copper ’s bug - busting properties were discover and how it works to control pestis .
Copper: The Bug Buster
One of the first preparations to use copper in the war against pestilence is called Bordeaux mixture . In 1882 , the French botanist Pierre - Marie - Alexis Millardet discovered that vinery grape treat with an unappetizing blending of bull sulphate , linden and water to keep thieves away also killed powdery mildew . It was the get-go of a long tradition of using fuzz as multi - purpose biocide and help to take up a fresh chapter in the mode man controls his surroundings [ author : Encyclopedia Britannica ] .
The Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) fix a pesticide as a mixture or heart that destroys , repels or mitigates blighter . Copper is an inorganic pesticide that works by oxidizing enzymes , lipide and proteins . This can alter the normal office of these agents , making them responsive and toxic , or just change them enough that they ca n’t be used successfully [ origin : Freeman ] .
To keep in line termites with copper - based pesticides , wood used in twist is treated with a particular chemical cocktail . The other ingredients in this cocktail have changed over the years as we ’ve total to realise their long - term effect on the environment , but copper carry on to be a primary ingredient .
On the next Sir Frederick Handley Page , we ’ll take a spirit at some wood preparations that contain copper .
Wood Preparations Treated With Copper
A successful approach to making a house an unappealing food for thought source for termites is by treating the Sir Henry Wood used in its construction with a combining of chromium as a binder , copper and white arsenic . This lethal cocktail , address chromated fuzz arsenate ( CCA ) , has been in habit since at least the forties for outdoor applications , especially where wood amount in contact with the grunge . It also has the advantage of being resistant to deterioration due to sunlight and pee exposure , and inhibits the emergence of microbial agents like fungus that speed up wood ’s decay .
This is n’t a gross solution , though . Termites can still go around treated Natalie Wood to other edible airfoil , like the Sir Henry Joseph Wood in your article of furniture and even your carpeting , or find pockets in CCA - treated wood that do n’t have high concentration of the pesticide . CCA is applied using a melted answer under pressure level , and the pesticide is n’t always distributed equally in all woods . There ’s also a problem with CCA breaking down over time and leaching into the environment . High levels of arsenic and chromium can be severe , and even copper color in gamy denseness can be deadly , in particular in aquatic systems , like pool and lakes [ source : EPA ] .
As a effect , in the United States , CCA has been eliminated as a wood intervention for residential program and for usage in lumber that will come in direct contact with the cutis , like playground structures .
As an alternative , lumber for residential economic consumption is sometimes treated with Copper Azole ( ACQ ) , a combination of fuzz and azole as tebuconazole , with other co - biocides . The recipe has vary a duet of time , but the finish is to create a safer and more environmentally friendly Mrs. Henry Wood intervention .
One disadvantage of both CCA- and ACQ - treated wood is that the copper reacts with other metals through electrochemical action , speed the oxidizing process in metal fasteners . Because ACQ arrest a larger percentage of copper than CCA and does n’t have the anti - caustic properties of atomic number 24 , wood treat with ACQ preparedness may be more challenging and expensive to make with .
This is n’t the only way copper helps to keep termite away . On the next page , we ’ll take a flavor at copper barriers and other interesting blockade that can keep you dependable from termite .
