7/21/2011 Bedbug Treatment: A Breakdown Of Effective Killing Methods Including Pesticides, Heat, Freezing & Vacuuming

Treatment Options

Though insecticides may be the treatment of choice for killing bed bugs, other options do exist, according to Henriksen.

“There are several different methods that are effective in killing bed bugs. Heat is one of them. Others include steaming, freezing, vacuuming, and use of properly applied pesticides. You are getting a lot of information on the temperature at which bed bugs can be effectively killed because a lot of research is still being done in that area. The most current data that we have shows that all stages of bed bugs…will be killed at 122 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Factors considered when evaluating treatment methods include the extent of the infestation, the type of location that will be treated, and any budget parameters.

Treatment costs can fluctuate dramatically by protocol and region, says White.

Dr. Stephen Kells, associate professor and Extension and Research Entomologist at the University of Minnesota, who is conducting research on bed bugs, says humans have lived with bed bugs since the days of cave-dwelling.

Through research, he has found that freezing works well for smaller household items, like books. In order for the treatment to work the temperature has to be near or at freezing for approximately 6 to 10 days.

Steaming is another option, though not by utilizing a carpet steam cleaner. Instead, a steam generator must be used and the temperature must be between 160-180 degrees Fahrenheit in order to control bedbugs.

When treating with pesticides, Dr. Kells recommends multiple product types including dust, short action, and residual. “The reason is each has a specific area of use. Residual is used outside of rooms, dust to fill voids in the wall, and short action for beds and mattresses,” the professor says.

Treatment Considerations

The NPMA has released best management practices for bed bugs in an effort to address appropriate treatment protocol. “They offer guidance to our industry in terms of the parameters under which good and effective bed bug work can be done”, says Henriksen.

For instance, Henriksen says it’s not a good idea to throw away a mattress known to have a bed bug infestation.

“We don’t recommend anyone throw away their mattresses. In some cases that may need to be done. But if it is done it should be done only in consultation with the pest management professional. If someone goes and throws away their mattress, if done improperly, it can actually spread a bed bug infestation. Those bugs will walk off that mattress or crawl off that mattress as you are dragging it through your home.”

Henriksen says many things can be saved and effectively treated.

Dr. Kells recommends asking questions of any pest management company retained for bed bug treatment. If a pesticide will be used, questions should include:

• Is it registered with the EPA?

• Is the pesticide labeled for bedbugs or for treating their habitat?

• Is it labeled for indoor or outdoor use, landscaping, farms, or barns?

In addition, he’s seen issues arise when tenants try to remedy problems themselves. Using the wrong product or application method leads to increased costs in the cleanup of a contaminated apartment. Dr. Kells recommends landlords or their insurers oversee the treatment protocol.

In the case of the Ohio residential fire, Dr. Kells believes the manufacturer’s own directions might not have been followed. He said the pest management professional used garage-style direct-fired heaters with a propane cylinder and placed them inside the home. “The actual unit made by the manufacturer for properly heating up a house during bed bug treatment requires that if a propane burner is used, it is positioned outside of the house,” Dr. Kells said.

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6/13/2011 Toronto Bedbug Infestations Up By 40%: 2010 Had Huge Spike

Reports of Toronto bed bug infestations spiked by nearly 40% in 2010, says a report released Friday by Global News.

City officials recorded 2,106 infestation reports in 2010, a 38% increase over the 1,528 cases reported in 2009.
The Global report was compiled with City of Toronto data obtained through access-to-information laws.

The numbers do not necessarily mean there were 38% more bedbugs in Toronto in 2010, it may just indicate a bedbug-savvy populace that is more inclined to report their bedbug problem, says Reg Ayre, manager of Healthy Environments for Toronto Public Health. “I’m not seeing a massive exponential growth of bedbugs across the city,” he says.

However, there’s no denying Toronto remains in the throes of a bedbug renaissance. In 2005, the city recorded only 190 cases of bedbug infestation. Three years later, that number had ballooned to 1300. According to bedbugregistry.com, a online bedbug reporting site, Toronto is the “bed bug capital of Canada” with 2270 bedbug infested buildings. Vancouver is a close second, with 1944 reports concentrated largely around downtown.

This year marked the launch of a dedicated City of Toronto bedbug task force, funded by a portion of a $5 million anti-bedbug fund earmarked last year by the Province of Ontario.

In person or over the phone, the task force provides advice to bedbug-afflicted residents. In extreme cases, such as when bedbugs have survived a string of fumigations, the task force will send an inspector to take a closer look. The group has also been called upon to handle bedbug removal for elderly, handicapped or drug-addicted residents who are unable to tackle the problem themselves. “We helped at least 110 vulnerable clients who normally fall through the cracks in the supportive system,” says Mr. Ayre. Inspectors have reported coming upon residents whose bodies were crawling with bedbugs.

The bedbug task force’s funding runs out in March 2012. “We’re hoping to get the province’s ear on this to have this as ongoing funding so we can really get a handle on the problem,” he says.

About 5 millimeters long, bedbugs subsist exclusively on blood from humans and other warm-blooded animals. They do not spread disease, but they do leave painful welts after biting a victim. Despite their name, the insects can live in anything from couches to luggage to clothing, a trait that enables them to spread with remarkable speed. An entire apartment building can be infested by nothing more than a resident carrying home a bedbug-laden suitcase after a trip to New York.

Almost non-existent in the developed world following the close of the Second World War, bedbugs have staged an extraordinary comeback since the mid-1990s. Some experts blame tighter restrictions on indoor pesticides. “What made this problem pretty much go away for decades was the availability of very effective, long-lasting insecticides that were cheap, affordable and available not only to pest control companies but to consumers over the counter,” said Dr. Michael Potter, a University of Kentucky entomologist, speaking to Postmedia in 2010.

The epidemic has prompted the growth of a massive anti-bedbug industry. In Toronto, the Yellow Pages abound with companies that will poison, scrub or cook bedbugs out of a home. In 2009, a Toronto business became the first in Canada to offer bedbug-sniffing beagles.

Despite the invasion, the vast majority of Torontonians sleep in bite-free peace. Even in the most bedbug infested neighbourhoods, officials recorded an average of only two bedbug reports for every 1,000 residents.

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5/8/2011 Bedbug Spray Linked To Thailand Tourist Death: May Have Had Reaction To Overdose Of Insecticide

TOURIST Sarah Carter may have died mysteriously in Chiang Mai earlier this year from reaction to an overdose of insecticide, a New Zealand television show speculated tonight.

The ‘Sixty Minutes’ program took samples from a Chiang Mai hotel room for testing and found traces of an insecticide, chlorpyrifos, which is banned from domestic use in some countries.

A Phuketwan reporter visited the Laleena guesthouse on Phi Phi soon after the deaths while samples of household chemicals were being taken for testing, but no cause of the fatalities was ever established.

Sarah Carter’s death was one of seven in Chiang Mai over a period of several weeks earlier this year. The deaths have yet to be adequately explained by local authorities, who believe they were coincidental.

According to New Zealand reports, the ‘Sixty Minutes’ program has produced ”credible evidence” that Sarah Carter died due to insecticide poisoning.

Chemical samples were taken from the bedroom that 23-year-old Ms Carter stayed in at the Downtown Inn, at a time when the entire fifth floor was being pulled apart and cleaned.

Before leaving for Chiang Mai, ‘Sixty Minutes’ spoke to a New Zealand scientist who suspected insecticide poisoning.

”I think she’s been killed by an overzealous sprayer who has been acting on the instructions of the hotel owner to deal with the bed bugs,” chemical expert Dr Ron McDowall, who works for the United Nations cleaning up toxic rubbish dumps, was quoted as saying on the site 3news.co.nz.

He said the traces brought brought back were small, but the fact that the chemical was found three months later, in a room that had been scrubbed, points to chlorpyrifos poisoning.

Among other theories is one that goes that the heavy use of chemicals on foodstuffs grown around Chiang Mai may have left residues in a meal eaten by Ms Carter and her two friends, who also fell ill but survived.

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