Hello Bonnie, Thanks for your question of using dry ice as a pest treatment. I saw that the Rutgers article that you linked to in your email used a reference from a chapter that I co-authored in the Mallis Handbook of Pest Control, so I felt a need to respond. My chapter referred only to the moth biology and not the dry ice treatment aspect, but I also do have experience with CO2 treatments.
Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. While it is true that gaseous carbon dioxide that comes off of dry ice (when in a high enough concentration for a long enough period of time) will kill insects, there are several reasons to not use this method. First and foremost, carbon dioxide, either in a dry ice form or from a cylinder, is currently considered a pesticide if used it to kill insects or rodents. US EPA will look at it like this and they could potentially give fines or other penalties if they find it being used in this manner unless that specific carbon dioxide has a valid pesticide label. Purchasing dry ice that is typically meant to keep food items cold or used for other production processes will not suffice. There are some relatively recent changes from the pesticide labelling standpoint. As of September, 2022, there is a valid pesticide label for using carbon dioxide as a fumigant for stored product pests, including museum pests. The product "IGI Carbon Dioxide powered by LiphaTech" does currently has EPA approval and can currently be used in all states excluding Hawaii. Here is a link to that label: https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/ppls/007173-00313-20220224.pdf Recommended dosage rates can find their label. You could certainly purchase their product and inject it into an enclosure to kill your moths. You would need to make sure that the enclosure is made of a barrier film that is gas impermeable as carbon dioxide gas molecules that easily pass through standard polyethylene. You would also need to invest in monitoring equipment to verify efficacy of the treatment and for safety purposes as carbon dioxide can be deadly to humans as well as insects and rodents. You would be dealing with high pressure gas cylinders and extreme cold as the CO2 comes out of the cylinder. There are many safety aspects to take into account. I will let conservators chime in on the potential risks of cold CO2 or the effects on RH from such treatments. I don't mean to bring up so many negative aspects of using dry ice since it sounds like an easy method to kill pests, but there are many things to consider with this type of treatment. Best, Pat Kelley ________________________________ From: pestlist@googlegroups.com <pestlist@googlegroups.com> on behalf of bonnie.yuscavage <bonnie.yuscav...@susqcohistsoc.org> Sent: Sunday, June 18, 2023 1:16 PM To: MuseumPests <pestlist@googlegroups.com> Subject: [PestList] Dry Ice? CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders. Hello! I am the curator of a small rural museum. We have discovered webbing and case-making clothes moths in a wool rug and a medium sized taxidermy bear. The bear has no historical significance but a lot of sentimental value in the community. Locally owned commercial freezers that can be set low enough or are large enough for either of these items are holding food. An online article from Rutgers University (https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs1182/) as well as online discussion from commercial providers state that dry ice can be used for dry fumigation. Does anyone have experience with this? We have the ability to make heavy plastic bags with a sealer and a source of dry ice so those are not deterrents to the project. Thank you for your help! Bonnie -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MuseumPests" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<mailto:pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/8b6013eb-c32c-4ae5-ad88-1f353704a138n%40googlegroups.com<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fgroups.google.com%2fd%2fmsgid%2fpestlist%2f8b6013eb-c32c-4ae5-ad88-1f353704a138n%2540googlegroups.com%3futm_medium%3demail%26utm_source%3dfooter&c=E,1,duSrf0RgsY76v2zXMfNwd8HL9ubD3nTeIAVblvWKP4vSRUn1qhGwkv2GYvXk7g_9jPMYjrAHeNzmD2ivojqRpIxOe4K1pdHQ359cRpjC&typo=1>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MuseumPests" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/DM6PR14MB23480F9F71877F61BF743FB6F85FA%40DM6PR14MB2348.namprd14.prod.outlook.com.
