I’m pretty sure these are who you mean, all of them from tabanus family. They are definitely strong fliers, can dive bomb in a windstorm and according to the various university extension pages I’ve read, there’s not a damn thing we can do about them. They’re new-ish here in my little part of Southern California, at least I never saw them as a kid. (I would’ve remembered; they’re horrifying and really hurt when they bite.)
Do yourself a favor and do not search the ingredients in ecovet.
Unbelievably toxic stuff. It’s considered a danger to the water table in ANY amount.
How the manufacturers get away with marketing it for outdoor use by humans on living creatures is beyond me.
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Super dangerous for the water table in any amount.
I cannot believe we allow it to be sold to the public.
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Says it’s food grade fatty acids.
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I never saw one as a child. In 2016, I came back after several decades in New England. Now I see them as soon as the weather gets really hot here in this Southern California valley.
They’re awful. Still better than a swirl of deerflies circling my horse’s head.
Hmm. Okay. I’ll look again. I checked when it first came out because of the warnings on the label.
If you’ve studied how US industrial chemical rules work, this generic description might not reassure you. Basically, it is up to purchasers, citizens, etc. to demonstrate harm. Unlike in the EU, the chemical manufacturer has basically no responsibility to prove its products’ safety.
I’m using CAMEO Chemicals a NOAA database of hazardous chemicals that have not been demonstrated safe, yet are sold and used every day.
Here’s the first actual chemical, octanoic acid.
NOAA recommends the use of a respirator for the second, nonanoic acid. This is guidance for “small spills or leakage: SMALL SPILLS AND LEAKAGE: If you spill this chemical, FIRST REMOVE ALL SOURCES OF IGNITION. Then, use absorbent paper to pick up all liquid spill material. Your contaminated clothing and absorbent paper should be sealed in a vapor-tight plastic bag for eventual disposal. Solvent wash all contaminated surfaces with 60-70% ethanol followed by washing with a soap and water solution. Do not reenter the contaminated area until the Safety Officer (or other responsible person) has verified that the area has been properly cleaned.”
The third chemical, decanoic acid, aside from its “rancid odor” has these warnings.
Ecovet takes no responsibility for safely disposing of the bottles either.
One clue for me is they do not market this product in the EU.
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The business of America is “business”. I feel sad when I’m in Home Depot and see the RoundUp displays to the ceiling with thousands of bottles just waiting to go home and get in everyone’s bloodstream and every other stream.
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Forgot to mention that scientists believe we’ve lost 75 percent of flying insects by weight in the last 50 years, so yup. There are far fewer. Fewer birds, too. In the big picture, not really a good sign.
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I’d never thought of that. Wow 75% is a huge number and the downstream affect on the birds and other insect eating beings. No, truly a canary in the coalmine.
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Often need to double-check my memory for stats. My friends say I can be a little overdramatic. 
This time, it turns out the numbers are worse than I remembered. We’ve lost between 75 and 80 percent of flying insects by weight in the last 27 years.
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I work in a fatty acid plant - the regular tallow FA doesn’t smell “good” but it’s the veg stuff that makes you wheeze immediately. Split coconut fatty acid, in particular.
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That cannot be a good sign, yes?
Sure, but OSHA has no required respiratory program for this material, for what it’s worth. It’s likely just as hazardous than all the pesticides in the “normal” fly sprays, if you look up their SDS.
I use Deep Woods Off directly on the spine to keep the bombers away. I put the bottle very close to the hair and one full squirt each location, couple inches apart, from poll to tail.
I will say we only do this at shows and wash them immediately off when we get home, but does seem to help. Deep Woods Off has 30% deet which is the most I’ve found and it’s horrible stuff so just using it during shows in July and august when the bombers are out. Horrible creatures
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Ok, but they also recommend using a self contained breathing apparatus for hydrogen peroxide. And mark it as explosive and extremely flammable. Inhalation or contact can cause severe burns and death.
But most vet offices handle it daily. Probably everyone on COTH has used it.
Chemistry is all relative to the concentration. SDS sheets can give useful info, but it’s not always relevant to the product or application. Heck, just look at the chemicals in laundry detergent or shampoos.
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Those big horse flies only come around here in NW Michigan in late summer. However, the Biting Stable Flies have been horrible all. summer. long.
Usually they come and go. Not this year.
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Yes, life is chemistry, for sure.
That said, those warnings for hydrogen peroxide are for “<60%” concentration in solution.
The peroxide we buy at the drugstore is more like three percent concentrate.
The point I wished to make is that in the US the burden of proof is on citizens, not the chemical industry (or the supplement industry, human or horse – but that’s for another day), to demonstrate a chemical’s danger, ineffectiveness, or something in between. Most people have no time for any of that, and we put our faith in marketers who have a single interest: separating people from their money.
In the rest of the civilized world, i.e. the EU, manufacturers must show some minimum level of safety before gaining access to the market. Here in the US, the term Buyer Beware has a special gravity and I take it seriously.
As a human with only one water table, I’ve used laundry soap, not detergent, for decades, avoid shampoos with surfactants, and once or twice a year make enough bar soap for myself and Christmas gifts. To discourage flies around my horse, I buy repellents with pyrethrins and/or citronella, both derived from plants for hundreds of years and used worldwide in organic farming to protect farmers, neighbors, and water tables.
Not everyone is up for any of that. I get it. We all make our own decisions about our exposure, our water table, and our waste stream. I suggest, however, that our pro-industry chemical policy status quo here in the US exploits our ignorance and has already proven to be unsustainable.
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Call me crazy, but I am not remotely comforted by this. OSHA’s failure to keep up with either the manufacture or commercial use of a new niche industry product is no surprise. They have not kept up with inspections for decades, and the onus lately is on industry to report worker injury, death, or danger. Surprise, surprise, industry is not that interested in reporting worker injury, death, or danger.
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I’m just saying that you’re really aiming those barbs at one type of spray. They’re all chemicals. They’re all horrible for you.
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