Sand Barrier Termite Control

We spend more than $1 billion per year in the United States protecting our buildings from termites and repairing termite damage. Until a few years ago, the highly toxic chlordane was the chemical of choice for termite protection. It was effective at killing termites and maintained its potency for several decades. Unfortunately, chlordane’s effects were not limited to termites, and the chemical has been taken off the market.

The most common termite-proofing treatment today is chlorpyrifos (Dursban®), an organophosphate that is applied to the ground around buildings and directly to building elements, as chlordane was. While this chemical does not pose as significant long-term health and environmental problems as chlordane, it isn’t as effective at protecting against termites either.