“Bombs don’t work on bed bugs.” Citation, anyone?
By nobugsonme on May 30, 2007 in bed bugs, bedbugs, bombs, foggers, fumigation
(Editor’s note: this FAQ is in kind of a rough, unedited state. Please read the whole message and all the comments (there are not many) in order to get the full answer. I will be editing this as soon as possible.)
This is a shout out to our PCOs, entomologists, and other bed bug specialists: we’re told, over and over, that bug bombs (aerosol foggers) do not work on bed bugs. They can spread them deep into your walls or to your neighbors (not the intended effect in a multi-unit building).
Today we have a Bedbugger forums participant asking for a reference on this topic. Her landlord’s PCO uses bombs (aerosol foggers) to treat bed bugs. She learned from Bedbuggers that they do not work and he wants to know where she got that information. She doesn’t want to say she read it on Bedbugger.
I looked in six of the university fact sheets linked from this page, and none of them warned against bombs. We need something to hand to this landlord and PCO. Has anyone got a “source” to send us to, besides the Bedbugger yahoo group, where I learned bombs were bad from hymenoptera (aka PCO incognito), louento (aka Lou Sorkin) and ch (aka Caitlin Heller)? There’s some urgency to getting this information, and your help would be much appreciated.
(It’s important to clarify that full-structure Vikane fumigation, which requires an evacuation of the entire building, and treatment of the entire building, is something entirely different, and does work well for bed bugs.)
content rss
Anonymous | May 30, 2007 | Reply
NYC recommends against foggers for bed bugs:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/vector/vector-faq1-hotel.pdf
nobugsonme | May 30, 2007 | Reply
Quoting Hopelessnomo’s response in the forums:
“This is a link to a section on bedbug elimination from Cooper Pest, the well-known and highly regarded New Jersey PCO. (This is the kind of PCO who gives interviews and is quoted everywhere, in other words, an acknowledged authority.) He discusses the issue of fogging applications:
http://www.cooperpest.com/bedbugs.asp#Prod
Another source is the venerable Stephen Doggett in his Australian Code of Practice. This is not a US source but anyone who knows anything about bed bugs has to read it with interest and respect: (it’s a PDF, relevant info on page 25 beginning with “Aerosol insecticides…” — he says they should never be used as space sprays and says why) http://medent.usyd.edu.au/bedbug/bed_bug_cop_v1.pdf
Finally, it’s important to say that some PCOs who do know bedbugs use aerosols as space sprays.” They may CB-80 as a “flushing” component.
Winston O. Buggy | May 30, 2007 | Reply
ULV, aerosols, and foggers. Insecticides currently labeled for ULV, aerosols and foggers have little or no residual effects on bed bugs. Most will seldom penetrate cryptic bed bug harborages. Harold Harlan
http://www.afpmb.org/pubs/tims/TG44/TG44.htm
Winston O. Buggy | May 30, 2007 | Reply
Total release bombs are a no no as stated but there are times when the
application of a flushing material or crack and crevice contact material
is used but this is not a space spray, bomb, ULV etc.
hymenoptera | May 30, 2007 | Reply
Check tjhe label of the product to be used. It lists controled pests on the label.
Very few Total release bombs list bed bugs as such.
nobugsonme | May 30, 2007 | Reply
Thanks all!
Anonymous: oddly enough, the city tells us not to use bombs because they spread chemicals around the room, not because they don’t work or can make the bed bugs disperse.
Willow-the-wisp | May 30, 2007 | Reply
that’s a lot of good info. I’ll make note of it because sometimes they bomb us here in SF too, and it is good info from good people.
Winston O. Buggy | May 31, 2007 | Reply
As the line from Dr. Strangelove goes ” bombs are not all bad”.
The issue with bombs is that they are used as a space spray in
other words they fill a space such as a room with a pesticide mist.
Amount is determined by cubic feet which is length x width x height,
THEY ARE OFTEN OVER USED - READ THE LABEL.
They are ideal for flying insects that fly around in the “space”but insects that are
shy nocturnal and hide in small cracks and crevices are not really effected which is why most are not labeled for bed bugs. Since it gets all over it is usually a non residual so it only kills the pests it contacts and then quickly breaks down. Now if
you have a bad bb problem it may kill those exposed ones on the drapes, edge of cracks etc. BUT as we learned from years of roach warfare it only kills 20 % and the rest go deeper or receive a sub lethal dose only to return at a later date. Getting back to bed bugs, if you keep repeating this method you can really send them deep and into other apartments as well. Unfortunately the tendency is to keep reusing hence the real problem of spreading them and not gaining control and driving them deeper into belongings which only exacerbates and prolongs the problem. Hence bombs are not recommended for bed bug control.
nobugsonme | May 31, 2007 | Reply
Very helpful, Winston!
James Buggles | May 31, 2007 | Reply
What does “sending them deep” mean in terms of location?
Winston O. Buggy | May 31, 2007 | Reply
Deep= to an area where the material is not bothering them, but after repeated
events they may continue to travel. There is no exact distance direction or equation
as it is not a controlled environment. As with many aspects of bed bugs and other critters good and bad much is not none.
lil_bit_obsessed | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply
are fogging and fumigating the same thing? also, in the australian code of practice, on page 25/26, it mentions that fumigants do not have residual properties. is this true? because my pco told me that the “fog” he used in my apartment was a residual… (dragnet - with permethrin)
nobugsonme | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply
No–
I am looking at page 33 of the second edition (see our links) and it says this:
“In the past, fumigants were widely used for bed bug control, however as other
effective methods exist that pose less operational risk to the Pest Manager and
client, fumigants are not recommended within this CoP. Currently, no fumigants
are specifically registered for the control of bed bugs. Fumigants also have the
disadvantage of not offering any residual protection. The use of ozone as a fumigant is also not recommended within this CoP due to the associated health
risks and the fact that the chemical is the main component of photochemical
smog.”
I believe that Doggett is talking about fumigants like Vikane gas. Vikane has no residual.
Note that one page 31 of the 2nd edition, he says,
“Like aerosols, the smoke generating
insecticides (known as pyrotechnics) or total release insecticides (‘bombs’) are
also unlikely to penetrate into harbourage areas.”
So there are references in the same document to aerosols and “bombs”.
hopelessnomo | Dec 20, 2007 | Reply
Here’s an older resource from Dr. Potter on this, found on David’s site actually.
It’s from 1999 and it’s not specific to bedbugs but it fairly describes the risk of scattering insects and sending them into wall voids.
Limitations of Home Insect Foggers (“Bug Bombs”)