1. 1933 – National Association of Exterminators and Fumigators was established to support the professional pest control industry. Bill Buettner led the charge.
2. 1933 – The Great Depression: Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) introduced the New Deal, focusing the “3 Rs” of relief, recovery and reform.
3. 1934 – First national industry meeting in St. Louis attended by 125 people.
4. 1937 – Organization’s name changed to National Pest Control Association (NPCA).
5. 1939 – The U.S. Forest Service began testing chemicals for termite control. World War II started Sept. 1, 1939.
6. 1940s – Scientists discovered the insecticidal properties of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and benzene hexachloride.
7. 1941 – On Dec. 7, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. On Dec. 8, the U.S. entered World War II.
8. 1942 – The Canadian Pest Management Association (CPMA) formed.
9. 1943 – Packet of DDT arrived at the Orlando lab in early 1943 from the Geigy Co. in Switzerland.
10. 1947 – The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) passed. A collaboration between the federal government and the chemical industry, FIFRA resulted from the increase in pesticide production during and after World War II. It essentially served as a “truth in labeling” law and established pesticide registration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
11. 1948 – Scientists began talking more about the importance of beneficial insects.
12. 1950 – The Delaney House Committee hearings in 1950-51 were the first instance of government hearings concerning pesticide safety. The hearings resulted in two amendments to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act: The Pesticides Control Amendment (PCA) and the Food Additives Amendment (FAA). These two amendments resulted in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) involvement in pesticide regulation.
13. 1954 – The PCA marked the first time Congress passed guidance regarding the establishment of safety limits for pesticide residues on food. PCA authorized the FDA to ban pesticides they determined to be unsafe if they were sprayed directly on food.
14. 1956 – Carbaryl, the first successful carbamate, was introduced. Two distinct qualities have made it a widely used insecticide. First, it has very low mammalian, oral and dermal toxicity. Second, it has a rather broad spectrum of insect control. This has led to its wide use as a lawn and garden insecticide.
15. 1958 – Congress approved legislation known as the Delaney Clause, an amendment to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, that prohibited the use of pesticides in processed foods found to induce cancer in man or animals.
16. 1959 – FIFRA was amended, requiring that pesticides be registered.
17. 1959 – Scientists R.F. Smith, S.M. Stern, R. van den Bosch and K.S. Hagen introduced the concept of “integrated pest management”; the term was coined in 1967.
18. 1960s – The 1st generation pyrethroids were developed. They included bioallethrin, tetramethrin, resmethrin and bioresmethrin. They are more active than natural pyrethrum but are unstable in sunlight.
19. 1961 – Pest Management Foundation (Buettner Foundation) was founded in January.
20. 1962 – Silent Spring was published on Sept. 27, launching the modern environmental movement.
21. 1964 – Congress passed an amendment to FIFRA, allowing the USDA to suspend or cancel a pesticide’s registration to “prevent an imminent health hazard.
22. 1969 – The U.S. passed the National Environment Policy Act, and the National Academy of Sciences formalized the term “integrated pest management” (IPM).
23. 1969 – The United States’ Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon on July 20.
24. 1970 – President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and shifted control of pesticide regulation from USDA to the newly created EPA.
25. 1970 – The Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted by Congress and was signed by President Richard Nixon on Dec. 29. It was the primary federal law that governed occupational health and safety in the private sector and federal government in the United States.
26. 1970s – Roll out of certification and training; state technician training/testing requirements began.
27. 1971 – U.S. District Court of Appeals ordered the EPA to begin the deregistration procedure for DDT.
28. 1972 – The Federal Environmental Pesticides Control Act (FEPCA) was amended by FIFRA. FEPCA required manufacturers of new pesticides to perform a variety of tests to prove the pesticide did not have “unreasonable adverse effects” on human health or the environment. The USDA funded IPM research.
29. 1973 – The members of OPEC proclaimed an oil embargo.
30. 1973 – The Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibited any action that can adversely affect an endangered or threatened species or its habitat. In compliance with this law, EPA ensured use of the pesticides it registered would not harm these species.
31. 1975 – Lyme disease appeared in Connecticut. The disease was named after the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme, Conn., where a number of cases were identified. Deer ticks were later identified as the principle vector of the disease.
32. 1975 – The first year there was a U.S. President-designated “Pest Management Month.”
33. 1980s – The development of neonicotinoids began with work by Shell. Neonicotinoids are a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically related to nicotine.
34. 1983 – Because of concern about damage to the environment and harm to human health, the EPA banned all uses of chlordane, except for termite control.
35. 1983 – The Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) gave workers the right to know the hazards and identities of the chemicals they were exposed to in the workplace. It was updated in 1994, and again in 2012, to align with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).
36. 1984 – Introduction of modern cockroach baits to the pest management industry. Although pest management professionals (PMPs) had experimented with proprietary bait formulations for generations, the modern era of cockroach control began in 1982 with the introduction of hydramethylnon baits, revolutionizing the way that PMPs battle cockroaches.
37. 1986 – The Campaign for Pesticide Reform (CPR) and the National Agricultural Chemicals Association (NACA) submitted a bill to Congress proposing amendments to FIFRA. CPR was a coalition of environmental, consumer and labor groups. The various groups were persuaded to work together because they were all unhappy with FIFRA.
38. 1988 – In December, then-Michigan Governor James Blanchard signed into law the first state school integrated pest management statute. The Michigan Department of Agriculture adopted implementing regulations in 1992. In 1991, the Texas Legislature passed school IPM legislation, which went into effect on Sept. 1, 1995.
39. 1988 – Legislative Day began.
40. 1988 – Chlordane is cancelled as a termiticide.
41. 1990 – The unification of East and West Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall.
42. 1991 – The U.S. Supreme Court in 1991 ruled FIFRA did not preclude or preempt local governments from regulating pesticides. NPMA and state pest control associations subsequently joined with countless agricultural and non-agricultural pesticide user groups. United, they successfully lobbied numerous state legislatures over the next several years to enact state laws preempting local governments from regulating pesticides.
43. 1991 – Congress amended the Clean Air Act, beginning the phase-out of ozone depleting substances. The fumigant methyl bromide was targeted for removal from most U.S. markets by 2005.
44. 1992 – The NPMA Field Guide to Structural Pests by Eric Smith was published.
45. 1993 – State pest control associations in Maryland and South Carolina became NPMA’s joint state partners. Today, almost 40 state pest control associations are joint state partners with NPMA.
46. 1993 – The National Academy of Sciences’ “Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children” was published.
47. 1994 – The U.S. EPA approved registration of the Sentricon Termite Colony Elimination System. The first termite bait and first product registered by EPA as a “reduced risk pesticide,” Sentricon won the President’s Green Chemistry Challenge in 2000.
48. 1995 – NPCA 1 Form was introduced for use in termite inspections during real-estate transactions.
49. August 3, 1996 – President Bill Clinton signed into law the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), landmark pesticide and food safety legislation that replaced the Delaney Clause with a process that required U.S. EPA to take into account all possible routes of exposure including residential uses when setting tolerances. FQPA also established an extra safety standard for children.
50. 1996 – The first transgenic (genetically modified) crops were commercialized.
51. 1996 – NPMA launches “Academy” to address the needs of the industry’s emerging leaders.
52. Late-1990s – Bed bugs reemerged in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the U.K., along with a number of other countries.
53. 1997 – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and eight Attorneys Generals took action to require the marketer of the Terminate do-it-yourself baiting product to change its misleading ads. In 1999, the marketer agreed to settle federal and state charges, gave refunds to consumers and modified its advertising.
54. 1997 – The Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA) was formed to serve as NPMA’s consumer education arm. Supported through voluntary donations by member companies, PPMA’s messages are now regularly seen through public service announcements and coverage on television and in newspapers and magazines throughout the country. Most important, PPMA is helping to grow the industry and increase the public’s perception of our professionals.
55. 1999 – In fall, West Nile virus was detected for the first time in the Western Hemisphere in New York City. In the early 2000s, NPMA held a series of meetings throughout the country to help train PMPs to provide mosquito control services.
56. 1999 – NPMA’s first annual Mid-Atlantic Conference.
57. 1999 – Name changed to National Pest Management Association (NPMA).
58. 2000 – NPMA went digital! NPMA’s first ePestWorld, PestWorld, and PestGazette were published and pestworld.org was launched.
59. 2000 – Then-named Pest Control magazine, and PCT, broke with tradition and started referring to pest control operators (PCOs), as pest management professionals (PMPs).
60. 2001 – Bonnie Everts of Indianapolis became the first woman president of NPMA, followed by Judy Dold of Chicago the following year.
61. 2001 – EPA banned most residential uses of organophosphates in 2001, but they are still sprayed agriculturally on fruits and vegetables.
62. 2001 – Chlorpyrifos was banned in the U.S. after being known as moderately toxic to humans and chronic exposure linked to neurological effects, developmental disorders, and autoimmune disorders. In agriculture, it remains one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides, according to the U.S. EPA.
63. 2002 – Then-U.S. EPA Administrator, Christine Todd Whitman, spoke at NPMA Legislative Day.
64. 2002 – Modern Marvels airs “The Exterminator” on the History Channel, showcasing the pest management industry as highly professional.
65. 2003 – The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA) established pesticide registration service fees for registration actions in three pesticide program divisions: Antimicrobials, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention, and the Registration Divisions.
66. 2003 – ”Primetime Live” with Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson aired a segment on bed bugs, interviewing Greg Baumann, NPMA’s former VP of technical services, kicking off the bed bug craze that continues today.
67. 2004 – NPCA 33 Form was introduced by NPMA’s Wood Destroying Insect Inspection Report, replacing NPCA 1.
2004 – Quality Pro was created, the pest control industry’s leading certification — available only to NPMA member companies.
68. 2004 – “Re-Introduction” of nonrepellent termiticides. Prior to the repellent pyrethroids, most of the termiticides were not repellent to termites (like Chlordane).
69. 2005 – NPMA’s first website for industry consumers was launched.
70. 2006 – Worldwide concerns grew about engineered transgenic crops, which slowed down the adoption of some IPM technologies
71. 2007 – NPMA Pest Management Standards for Food Plants introduced.
72. 2007 – NPMA Field Guide to Structural Pests, Second Edition, by Eric Smith, is published.
73. 2009 – Green Pro created, NPMA’s green pest management credential program.
74. 2009 – NPMA received the EPA Honor Award, the first time it’s given to an industry organization.
75. 2009 – The production and agricultural use of lindane was banned under the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants. A specific exemption to that ban allowed it to continue to be used as a second-line pharmaceutical treatment for lice and scabies.
76. 2010 – Number of times industry messaging is seen in news outlets across the United States topped more than 1 billion for the first time, thanks to PPMA-initiated outreach.
77. 2011 – NPMA published its “Bed Bug Best Management Practices.”
78. 2011 – Thirty percent of homeowners reported using professional pest control in the past year, up from eighteen percent in 2004.
79. 2013 – On April 29, the European Union passed a two-year ban on neonicotinoid insecticides, which are suspected to be the primary cause of bee colony collapse disorder.
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