Friday, March 20 the Delaware family was rushed to Roy L. Schneider Hospital on St. Thomas after having seizures from what is assumed to be chemical poisoning. Monday, March 23 EPA declared that pesticides might have been used to fumigate a room at a resort on March 18.
The investigation continued Tuesday and where U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Elias Rodriquez said the company that used the pesticide containing methyl bromide was identified as the St. Thomas-based Terminix.
The four individuals who said to suffer from the effects of the chemicals are Steve Esmond, his wife Theresa Devine, and their two children, Ryan and Sean. Now their condition is currently recovering and fortunately on a good and safe state.
The investigation actions last Tuesady was EPA crew who took air samples in the Sirenusa unit that formerly occupied by the family. They were sent to an EPA ans was approved for laboratory testing.
“They’re taking more samples tomorrow,” Rodriquez said.
Based on EPA’s website, methyl bromide is an odorless, colorless gas that has been used as a soil and structural fumigant to control pests across a wide range of agricultural sectors.
As methyl bromide was discovered to drain the stratospheric ozone layer, the amount of methyl bromide produced and imported in the U.S. was cut down slowly until it was phased out in Jan. 1, 2005 This is to meet the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer Protocol and the United States Clean Air Act.
However, there are still exceptions to the ban on using methyl bromide when it’s used to pest control in agriculture.
proper fumigation
St. John resident Todd Roskin, a licensed pesticide operator who owns St. John Solutions, said that though pesticides containing methyl bromide were phased out, an equally hazardous chemical called Vikane is still currently used.
Roskin said it’s not the toxicity that may have caused the problem at Sirenusa but the process of fumigation. He said that those chemicals before using should call for evacuation of the entire building when it’s a multi-unit building. He added that if it will be used in a small area, the pesticide operator is supposed to construct a tent around the area as well as large spaces like buildings should be tented, he said.
“The gas stays there for 48 hours,” he added. After that the area should remain vacant for another day.
“It’s about a three-day procedure,” he said.
Roskin added that it’s probable for the fumigation gas to transfer from room to room as it can pass through the electrical conduits.
He said that the pesticides containing methyl bromide and Vikane were used because the wood in the building is infested with dry wood termites or powder post beetles that live inside the wood and destroy it.
He also noted the difference between extermination and fumigation. He pointed out that extermination is when a liquid is spread on areas where insects live or leave trails while fumigation is when a gas like the pesticide containing methyl bromide and Vikane are used.
“It’s not routine pest control,” he said.
Delaware Family Poisoning Ascertained to be Caused by Terminix Company
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