MANILA, 12 November 2007 — A Filipino scientist has found that lahar, or mudflow from slopes of volcanoes, can be used in controlling termites.
Professor Menandro Acda of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna, has applied for a patent for a technology using lahar as a cost-effective barrier to protect wooden structures from subterranean termites.
Charles Lindbergh Foundation and the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants gave research grants in 2004 for further studies by Acda, chairman of the Forest Products and Paper Science department of the UP College of Forestry and Natural Resources.
In the study titled “Volcanic Debris to Prevent Termite Invasion into Homes and Timber Structures in the Philippines,” Acda, through laboratory, field and pilot studies. confirmed his initial findings that lahar is indeed a good termite barrier.
Damage caused by termites to property in the Philippines is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Acda found out that the natural sharp edges of the lahar particle cut and kill termites when they try to dig through a layer of the wooden material. He found the right particle size that is effective for preventing the destructive activities of four most pernicious termite species in the country.
He said a small house with a 60-square meter floor area requires about 10-12 cubic meters of screened lahar particles for installation beneath floors and along foundation walls.
The study noted that not only is the commercial cost of lahar barrier treatment a lot cheaper than the cost of conventional soil poisoning methods and termite baits. It is also environment-friendly and can provide additional income opportunities for people in the lahar areas of Pampanga and Albay.
The most common method of termite control is the injection of chemical termiticides into the soil. Termiticides are carcinogenic (cause cancer) and can pollute the water table, scientific findings revealed. Termite bait, another method, is double the price of termiticides.
These methods are both costly and not effective in the control of termite in the Philippines. Until recently, the use of termite barrier has not been available in the country because the processing materials such as glass, granite and basalt are expensive and energy intensive.
Acda’s discovery began as a curiosity when he saw how thick lahar clogged the Pampanga River and buried several towns in Central Luzon when Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991 after more than 600 years of dormancy. Lahar is an Indonesian term adopted by scientists for a mixture of ash, volcanic debris and water that are unleashed from the slopes of volcanoes. It has been described as mudflow with consistency of wet cement.
