There are many diatomaceous earth based pesticides produced from different nations all over the world. The location of the world the diatomaceous earth is mined from, has an effect on the efficacy of insecticide (Athanassiou et al., 2010). For example, diatomaceous earth from several parts of the world was screened, and it was discovered that local diatomaceous earth from the former Yugoslavia was very effective, and could successfully be used against stored-grain pests (Athanassiou et al., 2010). This means that some products will be much more effective than others. A study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of diatomaceous earth when in contact with insects at different moisture levels. This study also compared 3 different diatomaceous earth insecticides, Protect-It®, Dryacide, and Insecto (Figure 3).

 

Figure 3: The mortality of Tribolium castaneum held on wheat for 14 days at 30 degrees C treated with three diatomaceous earths at 300ppm. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Post-harvest insect control with inert dusts. (Fields & Korunic, 2002). http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~fieldspg/fields/korunic-2002.pdf

 

As seen in Figure 3, it is quite clear that Protect-It® caused for the highest mortality rate, making it the most effective insecticide when compared to Dryacide and Insecto. Regardless of the moisture level, Protect-It® remained the most effective over the 14-day period (Figure 3). A few products that are similar to Protect-It which are produced in different nations of the world are compared in table 5.

 

Table 5: A comparison between different diatomaceous earth based insecticides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     By researching the different companies that supply insecticides that are similar to Protect-It, it was determined that all products listed above are produced for the same purpose, the control of insects in stored grains (Table 5). All of the products contain a combination of diatomaceous earth and silica, can be used on the common grain pests and all work to exterminate the pests by desiccation (Table 5). The major differences between the different products are the place of origin, the price, and the amount of product needed to treat grain (Table 5).