The more that man becomes aware of and concerned about his environment, the greater will his scrutiny be of the actions hitherto considered as normal or standard. When such actions relate to the use of pesticides the scrutiny can be a two edged sword. On one hand reviews by learned experts have greatly contributed to the removal of dangerous and undesirable compounds; on the other hand misguided deliberations by lay scientists and the media have lost us some of the most effective pesticides. Pest control in museums has bot escaped this scrutiny and today much closer attention is being paid to the materials and techniques used for preservation. New legislation, particularly in the United Kingdom in the form of COSHH and the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985, has increased awareness. Today, conservators are constantly reviewing pest control techniques with a view to achieving the most effective control with a minimum of risk to man, the environment and the item to be preserved. This paper discusses research undertaken by Rentokil which may help to achieve this.