Recommendation in the spotlight: Rat control with dry ice?
Following a video about rat control using dry ice in Paris, a Brussels municipality asked Brussels Environment whether this technique could be used in the Brussels-Capital Region. Although dry ice is used in the video to control rats, this method is not legally permitted in France or Belgium. Dry ice is used in several cities in the United States.
Dry ice is CO2 in solid form, which turns into gas at -78.5°C. The solid dry ice is placed at the entrance to a rat burrow, where it sublimates and the CO2 gas spreads through the tunnel system. This is possible because CO2 gas is heavier than air.
However, the use of carbon dioxide as a pesticide is questioned because rodents can experience pain and stress due to the formation of carbonic acid on the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract and eyes, as well as stimulation of ion channels in the amygdala. This method is therefore not completely painless.
In this advice, we briefly explain why dry ice is not (yet) permitted in Belgium, what procedures must be followed in order to use dry ice as a biocide, and according to which principles rat infestations are best tackled.
The first step in tackling the problem is always monitoring: what attracts the animals and how much damage do they cause? The next step is to consider how the damage can be prevented, rather than how the animals can be killed. If control measures are nevertheless necessary, mechanical control is preferred over the use of rodenticides.
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Image above: brown rat (photo Rollin Verlinde - Vildaphoto)