WPRI 12 News on bed bugs, pesticide resistance, and alternative bed bug treatments
By nobugsonme on May 23, 2008 in Stern, ThermaPure, bed bugs in the news, cryonite, dr. michael potter, heat, ice, pest control, pesticide resistance, pesticides, steam, thermal, treatment, vikane
This item from WPRI 12 Eyewitness News takes a spin down the “pesticide resistance” road, with sound bites from a woman with bed bugs, Dr. Michael Potter (whose unofficial fan club is housed right here), an unnamed ThermaPure Heat representative talking about that technology, and Douglas Stern talking about Cryonite.
Stern stresses the need for a residual placed down after Cryonite in order to deal with bed bugs not knocked down by the process; one person in the forums has claimed to have had multiple Cryonite treatments and a persistent infestation.
Some additional non-pesticide options not mentioned are Vikane gas and the careful and diligent use of a steamer (preferably a dry steamer, to avoid mold and fungus growth). Steam is a lot of work, and most effective in experienced hands, but can seriously reduce your bed bug population. Coupled with dusts and pesticides, it is a viable option.
Thanks to the anonymous Bedbugger who pointed us to this video.
Click here to watch the film.
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blkjkoknhrt | May 24, 2008 | Reply
The reporter states our first line of defense chemicals are no longer effective (paraphrasing). What ARE these chemicals?
nobugsonme | May 25, 2008 | Reply
Pyrethroids, blkjkoknhrt.
All bed bugs are not resistant. There have been resistant populations identified, and this resistance seems to be increasing.
It’s worth noting that pyrethroids can be a valuable part of a bed bug treatment plan, and are still widely used.
If your bed bugs are not going away, pyrethroid resistance is a possibility, but is by no means the only likely reason–lots of other factors can mean treatment fails (others include not treating all infested areas, prep not done correctly, treatment not done correctly, neighbors infested, other source of reinfestation, etc.).
BakedBedBugs | Jun 5, 2008 | Reply
The anonymous ThermaPure representaive is Dr. Michael Linford, who commercialized the Thermapure Heat process.
He literally grew up in pest control, back in the days of DDT fogging his job as 12 year old was to run into the homes and open the windows while holding his breath. Fascinating man.
nobugsonme | Jun 5, 2008 | Reply
Thanks, BakedBedBugs. It was odd that the news program provided other names and not Linford’s. Thanks for filling that in for us.