Midweek Short Read: Exclusion Practices in Schools

David Bennett

Although we may not think of it often, if at all, Integrated Pest Management practices at public schools are really important for protecting the health and safety of your child. Although there are many factors that lead to academic achievement, reducing unnecessary exposure to poisons and pesticides improves health and attendance, is certainly an integral piece. Children are more likely to experience adverse health effects than adults when exposed to these risks due to their small body size in relation to the amount of contaminant or pathogen. Not only are their brains and other organs still developing and more vulnerable, children’s hand-to-mouth and ground contact behaviors increase the likelihood that they will come into contact with pests, pathogens, and pesticides. While the reasons for eliminating rodents in schools seems clear, let’s review from a prior article we wrote about the subject:

In just one year a rat can shed more than half a million body hairs
A single mouse can produce up to 18,000 fecal droppings.
In that same year, a pair of rats can produce over 1,200 descendants.
Within three years, that can grow to half a billion descendants!
Rodents have been linked to asthma and transport fleas, lice, and ticks.
The CDC also points out that they carry diseases including rat bite fever, hantavirus, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, murine typhus, and even the bubonic plague. Rats also carry rat lungworm disease, which has affected people in multiple states, including Hawaii.

Though there are multiple pieces to an Integrated Pest Management program, and it is important to implement them all for greatest effectiveness, in this short read, we are going to focus on exclusion, which goes a long way to preventing a full-scale infestation when implemented and monitored correctly. When pests are found through active monitoring, IPM encourages low-risk control methods that include manual, mechanical, and cultural tactics in addition to the judicious use of pesticides. It is important to reiterate that IPM is not a single pest control approach, but rather a strategy of combined approaches that synergize to limit a pest’s ability to survive and thrive. Exclusion is an integral piece that can prevent future problems from recurring, protect the health and safety of children in schools, and significantly reduce the amount of poisons and pesticides used.

EPA recommended exclusion practices in schools:

Keep outside doors and windows shut when not in use
Place weather-stripping, door and bottom sweeps on exterior doors.
Seal gaps around windows and place weather stripping where missing.
Seal openings in walls and floors with pest resistant and structurally sound materials.

Install or repair screens in doors, windows, and other exterior openings as well as ventilation openings.

Exclusion means savings!

The one-time cost of purchasing exclusion materials such as screens and door sweeps such as our RodeXit strip door sweeps which not only keep out rodents and flying pests, but also keep out hot and cold air drafts means substantial savings for you in years to come. RodeXit strip sweeps are also reusable, durable and long lasting. The door sweeps alone will pay for themselves in short order.

RodeXit door sweeps are embedded with 10 stainless steel wires.
RodeXit door sweeps are eco-friendly and non-toxic.
RodeXit door sweeps are easy to install under 2 minutes with ordinary screws; pre-marked every 4 inches so you know exactly where to put the screws for efficient and secure installation.
Reusable—simply flip it over and re-install it!
Reduces costs and labor—it is durable, reusable, and protects doors!
Better than rubber encased steel fabric because the aluminum used for competitor’s products can be chewed through by rats, and are susceptible to damage both product and the door they are installed on especially in receiving areas in schools because they protect doors against accidental run-ins by forklifts and other heavy equipment.

The RodeXit Wave strip is for proofing up to 1.4 inches (35 mm) high threshold gaps of horizontally operating manual doors i.e.

Manual swing doors with normal hinges.
Manual swing doors with double acting hinges.
Manual sliding doors.
Manual folding doors.

The RodeXit Straight strip is for proofing

The vertical astragal gap of double doors and
Gaps in or between stationary building parts, fences and/or walls

Stay tuned on April 15th, we are rolling out RodeXit in North America for Commercial and residential applications, tough, tested, easy to install, long lasting door sweep, wall and fence exclusion product!

We are exhibiting at New York Pest Management Associations event April 30^th, Russo’s on the Bay, 162-45 Cross Bay Blvd, Howard Beach NY 11414. Please come talk with us about rodent challenges and exclusion products!