Sustainable Alternatives to Silicone in Pest Management: A Comparative Study of Biodegradable Oleogel Pheromone Dispensers for Plodia interpunctella

Abstract

Pheromone dispensers are essential tools in integrated pest management (IPM) to reduce chemical pesticide use, particularly in food storage environments. Silicone-based dispensers (SD) are a gold standard due to their low cost and controlled pheromone release, but pose environmental/health risks related to plastic/chemicals pollution. Oleogel-based dispensers (OD) represent a biodegradable alternative, offering the advantage of pheromone incorporation during material preparation, ensuring uniform dispersion, controlled release kinetics, and reduced production steps. This study compared the performance of OD and SD over a 90-day period (at three time points: T0, T45, and T90) in attracting Plodia interpunctella. Both dispensers experienced efficacy reduction over time, but no statistically significant differences emerged between SD and OD. These results highlight OD as a promising, sustainable alternative to SD, with future work needed to optimize its formulation and validate its real-world applications.