The practice of pouring gasoline into an ant colony as a quick-fix pest control method has circulated for years. While this approach may seem like an immediate solution, it presents extreme risks to human health and the environment. This dangerous practice involves using a highly flammable, toxic substance in an uncontrolled setting, which is unsafe and violates environmental regulations. Understanding the mechanism by which gasoline affects ants, alongside the significant dangers, highlights why this method should be avoided entirely.
How Gasoline Kills Ants
Gasoline kills ants through physical disruption and chemical toxicity. The liquid contains a high concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like benzene, toluene, and hexane, which act as a potent chemical poison. Once the gasoline enters the nest, the rapidly evaporating VOCs create a toxic vapor that overwhelms the insects’ respiratory systems.
The liquid petroleum also physically coats the ants, leading to suffocation by clogging their spiracles. Gasoline is also a strong solvent that dissolves the ants’ protective waxy exoskeleton, which is necessary for water retention. This destruction results in rapid dehydration, contributing to the mortality of any ant that contacts the substance.
Immediate Hazards of Using Gasoline
The immediate danger of using gasoline stems from its extreme flammability and the release of toxic fumes. Gasoline vapor is heavier than air and readily accumulates in subterranean spaces, such as ant colony tunnels. This concentration creates a highly combustible environment, risking sudden fire or explosion from a spark, heat source, or friction. Numerous incidents have been reported where ignition has caused severe property damage and personal injury.
Handling gasoline also exposes the user to serious health risks from inhalation and skin contact. Inhaling the VOCs, which are powerful central nervous system depressants, can cause acute symptoms like dizziness, nausea, confusion, and respiratory irritation. Chronic exposure to these components, particularly benzene, is associated with cancer and other long-term health issues. The liquid can also cause chemical burns upon prolonged contact with the skin.
Legal Status and Soil Contamination
Using gasoline as a pesticide is illegal because it is not registered or approved for this purpose by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Any substance applied to kill a pest must undergo rigorous testing to ensure it does not pose unreasonable risks to human health or the environment, a standard gasoline fails to meet. Applying it to soil violates environmental protection laws designed to prevent pollution.
The long-term consequence is severe soil and groundwater contamination by total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). The toxic compounds in gasoline, including BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene), persist in the soil for years. This effectively sterilizes the area by destroying beneficial microbial life and plant roots. These contaminants can also leach downward, potentially polluting groundwater used for drinking. Remediating petroleum-contaminated soil is a complex and extremely expensive process, often costing thousands of dollars even for small spills.
Safer Methods for Ant Control
There are several effective and legal alternatives that pose no risk of fire, explosion, or environmental contamination. A simple solution for treating an outdoor ant mound is pouring a large volume of boiling water directly into the center of the nest. The heat will eliminate a significant portion of the colony, including the queen, without leaving behind any toxic residue.
For a slower, more complete colony elimination, commercially available ant baits containing boric acid are highly effective. Worker ants consume the bait and carry the slow-acting poison back to the nest, where it is shared with the queen and larvae, eventually destroying the entire colony.
Another non-toxic method is applying diatomaceous earth, a fine powder made from fossilized algae, around the ant trail or nest opening. The sharp particles physically abrade the ant’s exoskeleton, causing fatal dehydration.