Shell No Pest Strip
Do you remember this? We had a few hanging in our home in California is the 1970s. They were bright yellow and attracted and killed files. The strips contained the chemical 2,2-Dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate. More commonly known as DDVP or Vapona. This same chemical was also used in flea collars and is an organophosphate insecticide.
The strip, which was first introduced in 1963, was discontinued in 1979 after one person allegedly died from exposure and others became sick. The chemical was later found to have a carcinogenic property and could possibly cause human birth defects.
New chemicals were being manufactured and introduced to the public in the 60s and 70s with little regard on the effect of human health. It was only later that some of these chemicals were found to be hazardous. I think I must of picked up those Shell No Pest Strips a dozen or more times! If I only knew then, what I know now!
[tags]Shell No Pest Strip, pesticides[/tags]
I so remember those! In 1979, my parents were building an addition onto the back of our home. Because of the construction, we had a lot of open air spaces and flies got into the house. I don’t know which was worse – the flies, or those yucky strips.
I am trying to find out more about this Vapona product..
it has been the only solution to my major fly and ladybug problem..
the present manufacturer,Scott’s Canada does not have any info on it’s site and I am getting more and more concerned as info on this Vapona product seems hazy,at best…
do anyone know what negative effect does it have on humans ?
Vapona is also known as Dichlorvos. Read this pdf for more information:
http://www.cr.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/02-04.pdf
hell i used to eat shell pest strips for lunch when we ran out of yellow american cheese. tasted not bad. probably has less cholestoral then the cheese.
I’ve got a bunch of freaking fruit flies occupying my kitchen and I’d love to get my hands on one of the “dangerous” No Pest Strips. Hey Jed, you got any stashed in your fridge?
You can still get them in Mexico.
ortho compamy sells them,they don’t use the nams Shell
I have the same problem Burt56!! Do you live in Florida? Fruit flies are horrible this time of year!! I actually got online today to try to find no pest strips for this purpose!! Guess its time for a trip to Mexico!!
Every year in early spring I would hang a Shell no-pest strip in our storage shed. It would keep the shed free of wasps all summer and fall. I would like to find a similar product for my son, who has wasps in his storage shed.
I worked at the Shell chemical plant in Merceville, New Jersey (outside of Trenton) in 1995. We made the pest strips and the large rolls of the material for flea collars.
http://www.drugstore.com/qxp88409_333181_sespider/hot_shot/no_pest_strip.htm
Hot Shot No Pest Strips
Active Ingredient: Dichlorvos
Not recommended for use in spaces to be occupied for longer than 4 months (only enclosed attics, crawl spaces, garages, sheds, etc.)…but they’re supposed to work wonders.
What were the Ingredients in the Shell no pest strips?
Uh, the post gives the active ingredient.
I’d like to hang one for just a couple weeks to get rid of the little no-see-ums that fly around my face while I’m on the computer. I feel like Pigpen.
We used to buy these at a feed store in Irving,
texas. (We have since moved to Arizona.)
we hung them on our patio. They sure worked wonders!
Insect Guard is sold by Prozap – Chem-Tech LTD. is the same product as the original Shell No-Pest Strip.
DVDP is the active ingredient generallly known as Vapona.
I have a case of the Shell No-Pest strips. I found them in my basement left over from prior owner. Let me know if you want them
shell no pest strips now come under brand name Hot Shot no pest strips, sold in all Lowes or Home Depot stores.
These are now called Ortho Home Defense Max No Pest Strips and are available in some sites online. I used them to stop infestations of Japanese ladybugs which were coming into our house by the hundreds in the fall after the soybean crops were taken off–that killed off the aphids and the ladybugs came to our house and barn to live for the winter. Works great!
I remember the Shell Pest Strips as a child. It was the only solution to fly problems. I haven’t found anything that has worked that well since. About a month ago I had killed about 8 filies in my home with a fly swatter. I went to a local hardware store looking for a Shell Pest Strip only to find a sticky, messy, strip. I taped this strip on the wall in my bathroom near the light and along my kitchen window. The stips did not attract any files. All it did was left a yellow sticky film on my window.
In the 70’s I would buy the shell pest strips which I could get in a cardboard casing. I could throw it under my couch and it would keep my house bug free. We had several dogs and cats and they would remain flea free which was the most inportant cause , nothing else seemed to kill them. We live in the country now and we can not seem to beat this flea problem I would love to find something that worked like that.
anybody have an avocado green dishwasher growing up?
I live in NZ. Shell pest strips only disappeared from shops here about 5 years ago.
Use vacumn cleaner to suck up ladybugs and relocate. They are
Valuable part of echo-system.
I just watched an old movie called “The Conversation” (1974) and noticed a Vapona No Pest Strip in Gene Hackman’s apartment..
In 1963 or 64 I worked at a vet clinic in Michigan, a Westinghouse salesman came in and sold us 3 yellow plastic strips which hung from s hooks, with a verbal warning not to put them near fish tanks. He said a grooming place lost all of their expensive tropical fish while using the strips, but loved them otherwise. We put one in surgery, one in the kennel and one in the exam room. People would bring in their pets and while Doc examined them fleas would fall off onto the stainless steel table. Flies would circle down falling out of the air and die.
Then Shell Oil bought them out and put a cardboard cage around them with further warnings not to put near cribs and kitchens. They were wonderful for ridding your house of insects and I always kept mine in a well ventilated area.
We had several cats who always seemed to pick up fleas late in the summer which were a huge nuisance. One year in 1970 we went away for 3 weeks during the extreme heat of summer only to return home to a completely infested house. My daughter’s bare legs turned black with fleas in a matter of minutes while standing in the kitchen. I worked for weeks trying to get rid of them. We couldn’t even stay in the house. Nothing seemed to work when I remembered the Shell no pest strips.
I searched out a few gas stations and finally found one who had a number of them left. No one was buying them anymore because of all the warnings. I purchased 4 and hung them up. The very next day the house was inhabitable. NO MORE FLEAS! I was so relieved.
I realize they are a health hazard and not to be used all the time but I wish they were available for overnight use once a month or so during this time of year. I can see where continued exposure would be harmful but I wonder if they wouldn’t be a welcome weapon in the fight against mosquitos, fleas, deer flies, blow flies, fruit flies, etc. for limited periods of time? I currently have a flea problem and would welcome one of those strips now for a few hours. Then I’d carefully wrap it up air tight and store it for use again next year in the same limited way.
Those insects pose a health problem too. Using the strips intelligently seems a simple solution to the problem. A better solution than those bombs you set off in your house which contaminate everything and are so difficult to use.
Had one hanging from the ceiling of my room in a quanset hut while stationed in the boonies of Korea in ‘74. My room was the only one without the bug infestations common to the rest of our missile site. Gave what I had left to our houseboy when I PCS’ed. He was thrilled!
Had them mailed to me from the states; several of the other guys did the same. No one was disappointed.
Agree with Biff. I was also there at the same time. Those things were lifesavers!
Does anyone kinow where I can buy the no-pest strips??
I buy mine at walmart… I use them to get rid of mites on my snakes, only had to use it twice in 3 years. Also I cut off a small piece of the strip and seal the rest up instead of using the whole thing…
The product was acquired by another company, and they are marketed under the Hot Shot brand. The design and packaging are different, but the function is essentially the same. Search for “Hot Shot No Pest Strips”.
You can get the Hot Shot No Pest Strips at Wal-Mart in the garden section.
I also worked at the Shell chemical plant in Merceville, New Jersey, and saw a guy fall into a vat of bubbling Vapona. He was walking the edge, being an ass and showing off. Management had to call the state hazmat guys (most experienced ones are in Jersey) and they pulled him out with some funny fork-lift attachment. While doing that, the guy’s pants pulled off and we could see his nuts were gone. Not sure if it was due to the boiling hot Vapona, but you bet I quit that day.
Shell No-Pest Strips could be used for up to four months in occupied spaces. Part of getting our house ready for the summer was to buy new ones and put them up. When school started, we took them down. My granddad — who lived to 92 — passed that on to us. Now, if I could only find some!
Ortho still sells the killer no-pest strips in Canada. In the U.S. the closest thing is the Ortho Hot-Shot No-Pest Strip. Find them at Lowe’s, Walmart and most home and garden centers.
There are many more warnings on them than in past year. The active ingredients are Dichlorvos (2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate) – 18.6%. relatedcompounds – 1.4%.
Does anyone know where I can buy the no-pest strips now?
They work so the environazis hate them buy them here http://www.drugstore.com/hot-shot-no-pest-strip/qxp88409
We used them all the time when I was a lad and we followed the rules and NEVER touched the yellow strip and only handled them with the cardboard cover. We all have very healthy children who are just a bit larger than us. Each healthy generation gets a bit bigger.
I bought mine at Home Depot for under $7