Spraying of Electrically Charged Insecticide Aerosols in Enclosed Spaces, Part I

Present methods for applying insecticide inside farm buildings are limited to hand-held mechanical spray equipment or mechanical aerosol foggers. These systems waste pesticide and contaminate the environment through outside drift. Health hazards are also posed to the farmer due to close contact with the insecticides and problems arise with the development of immunities in the insect population. Presented are the experimental results of preliminary investigations into the use of charged aerosol spray application of insecticide in enclosed rooms. Some deposition and effectiveness tests done with live insects are included. The results show that a charged spray gives a 25-45 percent improvement in the LT-50 index over an uncharged spray under the same conditions. (LT-50 is the time required to kill 50 percent of an insect population.) This shows some of the potential and encourages the development of electrostatic systems for spraying insecticides inside building.