Diatomaceous Earth - Natural Indoor Pesticide
There are natural, non-toxic alternatives to all the other pesticides out there. This is something we’ve decided to invest some time in after it was recommended at a local store, we researched and read up on it online and now we’ve dispersed it in the cracks where the walls meet the our linoleum floors.
Diatomaceous earth, aka diatomite is a naturally occurring soft sedimentary rock which, by the time you acquire it, will be in an off-/white powder. The best way to learn about all its intricate details is by reading up on it for yourself. Hence I won’t repeat what’s already been written.
The other reading I’d done is to look at whether I need to protect myself when working with it, such as the National Pesticide Information Center‘s site as the CDC’s info page on the subject.
Hence I still used some rubber gloves, an R95 respirator and some glasses (goggles are better).
To apply the powder, a powder duster came in very handy, like the one in the following photo.
The reason this powder is effective against many insects, esp. those with an exoskeleton, is because of the abrasive nature of the powder and its damaging effects that in turn cause the insect to dehydrate fatally. See Wikipedia’s aforementioned page and scroll down to Pest control.