1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:10,559 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, there are many ways 3 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: to catch a fly. A sticky strips of paper, sprays, swatters, 4 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: or a handy pair of chopsticks. If you're really looking 5 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: for a challenge, can all do the trick. It turns out, however, 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,280 Speaker 1: that one of the most popular tools for staying bug 7 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 1: free may do more harm than good. I'm talking about 8 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: bug zappers. They obliterate flies and other critters by emitting 9 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: a UV light that indiscriminately attracts flying insects, and then 10 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: electrocuting any winged object that comes into their path. There 11 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: are a number of reasons that backyard grillers and chillers 12 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: should ditch zapping machines. For the article this episode is 13 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 1: based on House to Forks, spoke with Jonathan Day, associate 14 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: professor of entomology with the University of Florida's Institute of 15 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: Food and Agricultural Sciences. Back then, they estimated that seventy 16 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 1: one billion non target insects are slaughtered by these devices 17 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: in the US alone every year. Most of these were 18 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: pollinator moths and beneficial beetles, ants and midges, along with 19 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: parasitic wasps, which control other insect pests. Several other studies 20 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: from that same time period, including one from the University 21 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: of Delaware, found similar results. With the drop in insect 22 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: populations that's being observed around the world, indiscriminately zapping bugs 23 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: is bad environmental policy. Day still maintains that the biggest 24 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,119 Speaker 1: threat from zappers is what he calls this non target impact. 25 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: The UV lights that the devices used to lure mosquitoes 26 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: and flies in are also likely to attract a number 27 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: of other bugs. Day said mosquitoes are a very small 28 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: part of the population attracted to bug zappers. Furthermore, when 29 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: an insect is zapped, the devices send bug bits and 30 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: any bacteria and viruses that they may be carrying flying 31 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: into the immediate area. According to a study conducted in 32 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: the year two thousand by researchers at Kansas State University, 33 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: a bacteria that bugs pick up on the surface of 34 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 1: their bodies or accumulate in their digestive canals aren't killed 35 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: by zapping. Instead, they survive on the small particles of 36 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: an electrocuted bug body that go hurtling through the surrounding 37 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: area and what goes flying into the air has to 38 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: land somewhere, right, So there are a couple of reasons 39 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: to ditch zapping machines, though, really the health threat of 40 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: having a bug incinerated onto your burger while completely on 41 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: appetizing is actually at the bottom of the list. And 42 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: they said, I think that's a very minor concern with 43 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: bug zapper usage. That event is going to be a 44 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: very rare one. It requires the bug zapper to be 45 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: hung over your picnic table and an infected fly to 46 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: come into that bug zapper at the same time that 47 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: your sandwiches sitting within range. It's probably a lot more 48 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: dangerous for you to have a fly walking over your food. 49 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 1: The good news is that backyard enthusiasts have a number 50 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: of other options for combating mosquitoes and other bugs, where 51 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: athletic clothing that bugs can't bite through, use a decent repellent, 52 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: and turn on the fan. Day said, mosquitoes are poor flyers. 53 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: There's nothing more effective than a fan. So the next 54 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: time you invite your friends over for a cook out, 55 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: you may want to reconsider how you go about warding 56 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: off bugs. A wise fellow once said something about using honey. 57 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article are Bugsapper's bad 58 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: News on house toffworks dot com. Written by Chris Optor. 59 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio in partnership 60 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Clang. 61 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: Four more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 62 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 63 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: favorite shows.