Diatomaceous Earth: Tick Control

Dusting horses with Diatomaceous Earth for the control of ticks.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Ticks
• Diatomaceous Earth

[VonKalenborneKennels]

Thank you for this.

[DavidSIlvercloud]

It is not healthy for animals or humans to breath diatomaceous earth and can cause respiratory problems.

[VonKalenborneKennels]

Thank you David. Please can you give more information.From my research you get two kinds of earth. One is very dangerous for humans and is what we use for pool filters and in industry. This is largely due to the crystalline sillica which exists in a lattice molecular structure. This does cause silicosis. This is what you are talking about in your post, I presume. Food grade Diatomaceous Earth consists of amorphous silica and is not dangerous to humans or animals.

[DavidSIlvercloud]

Diatomaceous earth is derived from the skeleton remains of a small variety of algae. Sometimes it is heated to produce varieties... it slightly changes the molecular structure. I don't know how effective food grade DE is against pests. I would consult a vet before using it in a manner that is dust producing... where the dust can be breathed by humans or animals, since it dehydrates anything into which it comes into contact. I am not a chemist. That's the best answer I can provide.

[SolutionByEvolution]

The pesticide value of DE is related to how well it abrades the moisture barrier on an insects ectoskeleton. It seems that an amorphous (smooth surfaced) particle would be less effective as an insecticide but safe to breath as it would not cause scaring within the lungs (silicosis). So you must use the crystalline (sharp surfaced) variety to be effective against insects however this is the same variety that causes lung damage to both people and animals. Dusting DE this is a really bad idea.

[freakshow2000]

I cant see in any of these pictures of how you are feeding the blower with DE. I have a 10 acre property I think this would work really well for.

[moonguardiankim]

The filter grade DE is 60% crystalline!! -- Stay away from it --- it is dangerous!! Perma-Guards food grade DE on the other hand is less than .50% crystalline silica.

[moonguardiankim]

Food Grade DE often gets confused with filter grade DE. Filter grade DE starts out as food grade, but it is heated to about 1000 degrees and chemicals are added to crystallize it. This works great for filtering but is dangerous to people and animals. Breathing the crystallized product in over long periods of time causes a disease called silicoses. The world health org. has said that DE needs to be less than 2% crystalline silica in order to be considered safe.