Controlling Urban Pests: The Case of Termites
Zilberman, David, Vernard Lewis, William Gendron and Sadie Shoemaker
from ARE Update Vol. 27, No. 6, Jul/Aug, 2024
View Article PDF: Controlling Urban Pests: The Case of Termites
Abstract
Sulfuryl fluoride (SF) is a fumigant that eliminates drywood termites (DWT) and other structural pests. Because it is a greenhouse gas (GHG), some have suggested banning its use. We estimate the combined social cost (i.e., private costs plus public costs borne by society) of treatment, damage, and GHG emissions to be between $675 million to $2.1 billion annually. If the application of SF is severely restricted or banned, the social costs will increase between $1.12 and $4.25 billion annually. The cost savings from fumigation are between $624–$1,465 per ton of CO2 emitted, much above the estimated social cost of CO2. We recommend the continued use of SF until an alternative is developed, and we urge the expansion of research on urban pests.
Keywords
Termites, climate change, California, infestation, pesticides
Citation
Zilberman, David, Vernard Lewis, William Gendron and Sadie Shoemaker. 2024. "Controlling Urban Pests: The Case of Termites." ARE Update 27(6): 9-11. University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics.
https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1724944540/21048/