Continuing our series, today we will talk about pest control.
Living with urban pests is like sleeping with the enemy. There is no security when insects and animals are nearby. They are important for the ecosystem, but when they are out of control in urban environments they become pests, causing serious problems. Some insects are moved by passive transport. For example, bed bugs can come inside suitcases, cockroaches through sewage, and termites from old furniture purchased from third parties. There are countless possibilities of entry that in everyday life go unnoticed. The ideal is prevention. However, sometimes it is impossible to control the elements that attract urban pests. When there is an infestation, the best solution is disinsectization.
And did you know that tannins can be an important ally?
As a sustainable alternative, tannins can be used to control some pests due to their antimicrobial, bactericidal, and antifungal properties that act through their mechanism of action and their ability to bind irreversibly with proteins. When the polyphenol comes into contact with the insect larva, it acts by causing deformations in its body covering membrane and in the protein-based cell membrane itself, which culminates in its mortality.
