Foggers and Bombs 'bomb out'!
Last summer, while perusing the aisles at my local Home Depot for a catch and release Mouse Trap, I came across the section of do-it-yourself home foggers or 'bombs'. These are often used for cockroaches and other crawling insects and are certainly effective for these. Then I noticed a new type for sale on the store shelves. These bombs claimed to kill bed bugs. I shook my head at this obvious attempt to pry money out of people for nothing in return, certainly the manufacturers of this stuff know these products do not work on bed bugs. Bed bugs can be highly resistant to pesticides (for reasons we will go into in a later posting). This week there is a new study in the news that backs this up.
Entomologists at Ohio State University tested three commercially available foggers (aka 'bombs'). They are sold as Hot Shot, Spectracide and Eliminator brands. The conclusion, not surprisingly at all, is that all three products were of no use at fighting bed bug infestations. They do not get rid of bed bugs.
“Based on our findings, bug bombs should not be used for crawling insects such as bed bugs,” says lead researcher Susan C. Jones, Ph.D., an associate professor at the university. “These products shouldn’t even be labeled for bed bugs.” The study appears in the Journal of Economic Entomology, goes on to state that foggers are so ineffective against bed bugs that they probably don’t even warrant taking the small risk of harmful insecticide exposure or other hazards.
In recent years more than 111 people in seven states got sick from pesticides used to get rid of bedbugs, according to an analysis published last year in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Ohio State University study began by collecting five different populations of bed bugs from residences in Columbus, Ohio. For a control group, a sixth population was added, known as the Harlan strain, that has been cultivated in a laboratory and carefully sheltered from pesticides since 1973.
The researchers then placed the various bed bug populations in petri dishes and exposed them to the foggers in a campus building slated for demolition. After one test, Jones recalls, “the Harlan bugs were keeled over and all of our field populations [were] just scurrying around as if nothing ever happened to them,” which suggests the non-laboratory bugs were resistant to the insecticide.
In a second series of tests, the researchers added small shelters made of paper discs or cloth to the petri dishes. These shelters, which allowed the bugs to hide during fogging, were designed to mimic the bugs’ natural hideouts, such as the cracks and crevices in floorboards, along mattresses, and behind picture frames.
This time the fragile Harlan strain survived just fine. “The critical issue is that the droplets don’t penetrate cracks or crevices,” Jones says. “They don’t even get to where the bugs are hiding. The $10 that you spent on an over-the-counter fogger would be much more effectively spent at a laundromat,” Jones says. The heat of a drier can kill bedbugs and their eggs.
If you suspect the presence of bed bugs, don't waste your money on these do-it-yourself products. Call KILOHANA K9s or another detection dog service in your area to come inspect your home or business. If the presence of bed bugs is found, have treatment done by a professional pest control company who is experienced with bed bug elimination. Don't put it off too long, bed bugs reproduce quicker and better than cockroaches and it won't take long for them to turn into an expensive nightmare!
“Based on our findings, bug bombs should not be used for crawling insects such as bed bugs,” says lead researcher Susan C. Jones, Ph.D., an associate professor at the university. “These products shouldn’t even be labeled for bed bugs.” The study appears in the Journal of Economic Entomology, goes on to state that foggers are so ineffective against bed bugs that they probably don’t even warrant taking the small risk of harmful insecticide exposure or other hazards.
In recent years more than 111 people in seven states got sick from pesticides used to get rid of bedbugs, according to an analysis published last year in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Ohio State University study began by collecting five different populations of bed bugs from residences in Columbus, Ohio. For a control group, a sixth population was added, known as the Harlan strain, that has been cultivated in a laboratory and carefully sheltered from pesticides since 1973.
The researchers then placed the various bed bug populations in petri dishes and exposed them to the foggers in a campus building slated for demolition. After one test, Jones recalls, “the Harlan bugs were keeled over and all of our field populations [were] just scurrying around as if nothing ever happened to them,” which suggests the non-laboratory bugs were resistant to the insecticide.
In a second series of tests, the researchers added small shelters made of paper discs or cloth to the petri dishes. These shelters, which allowed the bugs to hide during fogging, were designed to mimic the bugs’ natural hideouts, such as the cracks and crevices in floorboards, along mattresses, and behind picture frames.
This time the fragile Harlan strain survived just fine. “The critical issue is that the droplets don’t penetrate cracks or crevices,” Jones says. “They don’t even get to where the bugs are hiding. The $10 that you spent on an over-the-counter fogger would be much more effectively spent at a laundromat,” Jones says. The heat of a drier can kill bedbugs and their eggs.
If you suspect the presence of bed bugs, don't waste your money on these do-it-yourself products. Call KILOHANA K9s or another detection dog service in your area to come inspect your home or business. If the presence of bed bugs is found, have treatment done by a professional pest control company who is experienced with bed bug elimination. Don't put it off too long, bed bugs reproduce quicker and better than cockroaches and it won't take long for them to turn into an expensive nightmare!
Don't let Bed Bugs get cozy in your home while wasting your money
and time on useless commercially available products!
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