Attention multi-family property owners, property managers and maintenance staff, pest control operators and residents.

The free Integrated Pest Management training for multi-family housing is a one-day training course that is sponsored and taught by the National Center for Healthy Housing and supported by EPA's Office of Children's Health Protection.

The training will be held on September 12 at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Mid-Atlantic Region office located at 1650 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. The class is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The course will cover:

-- Using the least toxic and most effective measures for pest control;

-- How to manage pests within a housing community using strategies that pose no risk or minimum risk of pesticide exposure to vulnerable, sensitive, and disabled populations, including infants and children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with chemical sensitivities;

-- The major health risks posed by common pests, including the connection between asthma, cockroach, and mouse allergens;

-- The biology, behavior, and at least two least-toxic control measures for each of the pests covered in the training; and

-- Contacts and solutions when pest control problems develop.

Integrated pest management is an approach to pest control that is superior to conventional extermination and monthly spraying strategies. It emphasizes eliminating nesting places as well as sources of food and water for the pests and banishing the pests from the property. It uses the safest pesticide in the safest manner only when necessary.

Studies by Purdue University and Virginia Tech show that this approach is more effective, and when the pests are under control, is cost effective. Programs at Boston Housing Authority, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority and in Salinas, California highlight the promise of IPM.

You must pre-register for the training because of building security. No walk-ins will be allowed into the building. And a photo ID is required.  Online registration is available.

For more information, contact Dion Lerman by sending email to: dlerman@psu.edu or call 215-264-0582.

8/20/2012