Insect poison from Aldi – not for amateur gardeners

There is currently a petition floating around Facebook, which was already valid last year, because you can buy insect spray at Aldi, but it is not as harmless as you would think.

This post is about:

The wording:

“Aldi-Nord sells environmentally harmful insect poison. The discounter trivializes the product and gives the impression that it can be used in the home and garden without hesitation. We demand that Aldi stop selling the spray immediately and remove all poisons from its range.”

The linked petition goes on to say:

“Customers are left in the dark about the active ingredients in advertising. Instead of mentioning the permethrin and esbiothrin cocktail, Aldi mentions that it is water-based.

The pesticide action network PAN accuses Aldi of concealing the intended purpose of the pesticide. Consumers could misuse the insecticide as a pesticide. The active ingredient permethrin is also suspected of damaging the hormonal systems of humans and animals and is considered harmful to bees.

As a biocide, the Aldi product can only be used against pests, but not to generally and preventively drive away insects from the home garden or terrace. The consumer is not informed about this. Aldi’s salespeople may not be adequately trained to properly inform customers about toxicity and recommended use.”

First, let’s take a look at the ingredients of this insect spray

The product consists mostly of water, with 0.06% esbiothrin and 0.12% permethrin added.

In particular, it is the insecticide permethrin that annoys the creators of the petition, as this contact and feeding poison is very harmful to bees, as laboratory tests have proven.

At this point we have to stop briefly

In fact, these laboratory tests were able to prove this, and this is not disputed. In nature, however, the scent of permethrin is very repulsive, also called repellent, so that bees normally do not come into contact with the insect poison at all, but run away beforehand. You don't have to worry about bees dying in the garden.

What about the other arguments in the petition?

However, the ladies and gentlemen from regenwald.org are not entirely wrong when it comes to their other allegations. In fact, Aldi-Nord praises the product without a detailed description and only warns that biocides should be “used carefully”.

Image source: Aldi-Nord website

Does the average consumer even know what a biocide is?

In short, biocides are chemicals that are used to control pests, for example in disinfectants, rat poison or wood preservatives, and are intended to protect human health and products.
The product belongs to main group 3 (pesticides), product type 18 (insecticides) of biocides according to EU Regulation No. 528/2012. It is an insecticide with permethrin as a neurotoxin against insects. And now we come to the controversial point, because while Aldi-Nord writes that the application is “for indoor and outdoor use”, the pesticide action network PAN rightly denounces that this version and the illustration (use without gloves) In principle it is grossly negligent.

Indoor insecticides are not necessarily fatal to humans and animals, but they can cause diarrhea and vomiting, which can be a serious threat, especially to infants and older people as well as smaller pets.

This is where the consumer’s intelligence is required.

You will never find a petition against kitchen knives in Aldi that says “Attention!
Aldi sells kitchen knives, but customers could mistakenly use these knives as murder tools!” Why not?
Because everyone knows how to use a kitchen knife. However, insecticides are a completely different matter. It is, to be clear, a neurotoxin. And it should then be handled with appropriate caution and knowledge, which is why it is not a smart move on Aldi-Nord's part to sell a product every year that you should be a little more familiar with.

Or at least there should be a detailed product description. Because the lady or gentleman at the checkout won't be able to explain the correct use of an insecticide between placing the items in the bag and paying.

Author: Ralf, mimikama.org

Sources:
regenwald.org
PAN Germany
Pharmawiki – Permethrin
enius.de – Insecticides
Home Garden – Insecticides