Entomologist Mike Merchant of Texas AgriLife Extension wrote on his “Insects in the City” blog Thursday about bug bombs, and why they are not a good treatment for bed bugs.

A highlighted quote in PMP magazine’s Buzz Online caught my eye today. Alex Barbarin is a graduate student at Penn State University studying bed bugs and their effects on low income households. Speaking of his insect study subjects, he noted that,

“If you set off a bomb in your room, [the bedbugs will] just move to your neighbors’ rooms. It’s like date night for them.”

I’d like to link to that article that quotes Alex Barbarin, and I will, as soon as I find it.  (It seems to have been removed, for now, from the latest PMP Buzz Online.)

Merchant also said,

The chemicals in aerosol generators are generally short-lived, remain airborne for a limited time and must be carried on air currents if they are to reach into corners and hidden areas in a room. It is unlikely that typical bug bomb products flush and kill many pests who are well protected in furniture, mattresses, behind baseboards and even picture frames, per Alex’s bed bug observation. Because of the repellent nature of some of the active ingredients in aerosol generators, if anything insects are likely to be driven deeper into their hiding places or into adjacent rooms, businesses or apartments.

[Emphasis added.]

We’ve been telling readers just this for a long time, but not nearly so eloquently.

And it’s hard to find documentation on this, so I am very glad to be able to point readers to this post.

See: Insects in the City: Bombs Away.Similar Posts:

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We are happy that Renee of New York vs Bed Bugs alerted us to the news that Baltimore is now implementing a bed bug control strategy, which includes

• bed bug inspections,
• training for Baltimore City Health Department Healthy Homes Division staff in detection and control of bed bugs,
• development of English- and Spanish-language educational materials, as well as several Spanish-language outreach campaigns, and (as Renee writes)

training Baltimore City public housing maintenance and management staff and, apparently, impressing upon them “the need to immediately respond to bed bug complaints.”

For more, see Baltimore’s Bed Bug Response Plan.

Baltimore City Health Department has a bed bug page, which lets readers know what to do in case they suspect bed bugs.  Unfortunately, at this time it only mentions what “homeowners” should do.

It is crucial, in my mind, that local fact sheets direct renters as to what they should do when they suspect bed bugs.

Also, the fact sheet advises:

Avoid “insecticide bombs” and “foggers” in your home. These products can spread hazardous chemicals throughout your home.

It is correct that people with bed bugs should avoid “bombs” and “foggers” when treating bed bugs.  But the reasons are not just related to the spread of chemicals.  In some cases, they are a fire hazard.

But as important is the fact that entomologists tell us bombs and foggers can disperse bed bugs and drive them deeper into our homes.  They’re specifically a bad idea with bed bugs for this reason.

Still, we are very glad Baltimore has a bed bug page and that they’re taking coordinated action to reduce the spread of bed bugs, and help citizens learn how to identify and get rid of the problem.

The bed bug page also provides links at the top to download PDFs of the press release, Baltimore’s bed bug plan, the EPA bed bug fact sheet in English and Spanish.

Update (4/27): and now the Baltimore Sun catches up with New York vs. Bed Bugs, reporting about the new Baltimore bed bug plan and website.Similar Posts:

• Bed bugs in the media: David Cain on British radio, Dr. Susan Jones in the Plain Dealer
• Towels under the door: when cities abandon tenants with bed bugs
• Bed bug education event on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Tuesday focused on prevention and IPM
• Room for Debate on bed bugs: a must-read!
• Interview with Sam Bryks on Integrated Pest Management; also, we learn about the origins of Bug n’ Scrub

Total release foggers (or “bug bombs”) are dangerous and we are told they can make bed bug problems worse.

And now the State of New York will only allow certified applicators to use them. Here’s the NYC DEC press release.

via New York vs. Bed bugs and City Room.Similar Posts:

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HealthDay News (part of U.S. News and Word Report) reports that

Between 2001 and 2006, commercial “bug bomb” insect deterrents caused 466 cases of acute pesticide-related illness or injury in eight states, U.S. researchers reported Thursday.

Presumably many more cases have happened in the other 42 US states and in other countries.

We have been told these types of foggers do not work with bed bugs and may actually spread bed bugs further and deeper into homes.

But they’re also potentially dangerous.

We encourage you to find a professional who knows how to treat bed bugs safely, and not to experiment with bug bombs.

We are also reminded that one of the potential negative “health hazards” presented by bed bugs is the danger of misuse of pesticides.Similar Posts:

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There’s an article in tomorrow’s Guardian (UK) about how bed bugs are on the increase in Britain, how foreign travel may bring bed bugs from one country to another, etc. We’ve heard it before.

But here’s something we hadn’t heard:

Rentokil has been working on new insecticides, including the Cymexide Nano Fogger, which is being field-tested in France.

Okay, we know foggers/bombs currently available are not a good idea where bed bugs are concerned. But a fogger designed for bed bugs? Tell us more. (Googling the name of the product brought me no joy.)

You can read the Guardian piece here. (I enjoyed the typo which made Mike Potter, “Mike Potteran.” You don’t see that many typos these days in The Grauniad, or any other paper.) Similar Posts:

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A news round-up for today:

This article in the Quad-Cities Online reported yesterday on bed bug infestations in a public housing complex in East Moline, Illinois. The reporter quotes one resident who has been battling bed bugs since fall.

“I work too. My tax dollars are going to support places like this (government run low-income housing). If people knew how disgusting this is, I’m sure they’d be upset,” said a resident of the Joseph Fulton Homes. The woman asked to remain anonymous.

Interestingly, a number of comments to the article also note that low-income folks should not have to live like that. At least one commenter (going by the name “some anonymous person”) mentions that “only the poor have to live like this.”

Well, not exactly. While it’s true that in this case, it’s a low-income residence, sadly, people of every social class and walk of life are having to deal with bed bugs. Many, many people we hear from at bedbugger.com — low-income, moderate-income and middle-class– have a problem getting their landlords to treat the problem promptly and effectively. The rich are perhaps in the best situation, since they have more possibility of moving, but this problem is not easy for anyone, and everyone who suffers from bed bugs suffers and takes a hit. And it can afflict anyone at any time.

We need better government support for fighting bed bugs, because nobody should have to suffer this problem for long (and a week is too long).

A second local public housing complex, a senior apartment building called Warren Towers, also has units with bed bug infestations, a story which was covered by the Quad-Cities Online on May 30th.

In other news, even though I have a google alert which tells me when people mention bed bugs in the news or in their blogs, I don’t usually mention non-bed-bug-blogs in our news round-ups. There are just too many people blogging their infestations on a daily basis to keep up.

But today, one caught my eye: this professional blog at LibraryJournal.com, suggests that folks are starting to talk about their bed bug infestations not just amongst their nearest and dearest, or in the workplace, but amongst colleagues they may not know well. That’s good news: talking about bed bugs means more people learn about the problem, how to spot it, and its likelihood of appearing in their lives, too.

Bravo to Heather McCormack at Library Journal, and Heather–we hope your Brooklyn bed bugs are on their way out!

Meanwhile, Lisa Hoffman’s Scripps News article on bed bugs (the one also published in the Knoxville News) continues to make the rounds of syndication, now in the Albuquerque Tribune.

Next, for anyone in Boston who does not have to work next Wednesday, the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation is having a Bed Bug Conference.

2nd Greater Boston Bed Bug Conference: Extermination and Legislation
Wednesday, June 13, 2007, 8:30AM – 3:00PM

There is still time to register! Registraton is $25.00 and includes lunch and refreshments. (Click the link above to get to the ABCDC site and download the registration form.)

Sponsored by the Greater Boston Bedbug Task Force, this event will provide updated information about the bed bug outbreak to more than 200 exterminators, inspectors, health providers, property managers/landlords, tenants and housing advocates, as well as members of the general public.

There’s also information at the same link for local residents to apply for a grant from the ABCDC to fight bed bugs in your home. Allston Brighton residents take note! We’re big fans of the ABCDC’s bed bug-fighting attempts (some of which are mentioned here), and we’d be glad to hear about other community organizations that are trying to help people with bed bugs, or help people avoid getting bed bugs in the first place.

And finally, today some tenants in a Jamaica, Queens apartment set off a roach bomb which exploded, harming them and damaging their apartment and belongings.

Authorities say the explosion shattered the windows of Apartment 4E at 164-30 Hillside Avenue just after 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

Some residents inside the apartment were overcome, and at least two were taken to the hospital.

The force of the explosion reportedly blew pieces of the fourth-floor window onto a construction shed and the street.

Fire officials said the roach bomb explosion may have been sparked by a pilot light or a refrigerator compressor.

In case the fact that bug bombs do not work to rid your apartment of bed bugs did not dissuade you from using one, they’re also apparently potentially dangerous.
ABC 7’s photo shows what looks to be much of the apartment’s contents pushed up against the (blown-out) window.

I realize the news reports this as a roach bomb, but since there are (for good reason) no over-the-counter bed bug bombs, since we know people attempt to use bombs made for other pests to eradicate bed bugs, and since Queens is experiencing a lot of bed bug infestations, I do have to wonder if that might have been the case here.

Don’t try that at home, kids!Similar Posts:

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(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.)Similar Posts:

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If you think you have bed bugs, these are the essential dos and don’ts.

If you suspect there are bed bugs where you sleep, don’t begin sleeping in another bed, on the sofa. Do not go to stay with someone else. The bugs may follow you to your guest room or sofa, and then it will be much harder to get rid of them. They may hitch a ride to your relative’s home, and you can cause them to become infested. (All of these situations have happened to Bedbuggers we know.) Also, staying outside of your home means the bugs may become dormant. We’re told they may live without feeding for up to 18 months. When you come back, they can begin biting you again. So staying in your home during treatment, and sleeping in your usual bed, is the way to kill bed bugs. Read our FAQs, isolate your bed, and sleep there while you’re getting a Pest Control Operator (PCO) to treat your home. Once you are being treated, you must remain in the bed–you are the bait, attracting bugs to the poison and their deaths. If you isolate the bed, they need not bite you.

Do save any bed bugs you find. Do not part with these– you may need to show them to landlords, pest control professionals, and so on. Entomologists at colleges or science museums in your town may identify these, and a pest control company can too. Pick it up with clear packing tape, and tape it to an index card. Don’t assume you’ll see lots of them, some people don’t.

Do rule out other possible conditions, like folliculitis, scabies, and bites from other insects. The FAQs may help. Be warned, though, that many of us are told by doctors that we do not have bed bugs, and later find they are wrong. Many of them have never seen bed bug bites, or have seen only some patients with them. Bites can range from large welts to small red bumps, to scabby pimple-type bumps. See the photos in the left sidebar links on the blog (even Caryn’s bites look different on different areas of her body).

Don’t start throwing your bed and other furniture out. As per the FAQs, you can cover and isolate the bed. (You may wish to wait until a PCO has started treating before covering the mattress in an encasement.) Most furniture, including mattresses and sofas, can be treated by a PCO, and you can ask the PCO if throwing them out is a good idea. And he or she can help you do it safely, so as not to spread the bugs around your home or building, and so that others do not pick up infested items.

Don’t start buying a load of chemicals and treating yourself. We have FAQs about choosing a good PCO and about why doing your own pest control in lieu of a PCO is not a good idea. Yes, sometimes supplementing a PCO’s work makes sense, but only if you know what they’re doing, and what you should do. Remember, pesticides have different qualities (repellents, contact killers, residual killers, growth regulators, etc.) Bed bugs are probably the most complicated pests you’ve ever encountered at home. If you start spraying pesticides, you may disperse the bugs, and the professionals may have trouble treating them. You may spread them around your home. Get good professional help and follow instructions.

Do not, absolutely do not release a fogger or bug bomb. Do not allow your landlord to do so. Do not allow a so-called exterminator to do so. Bug bombs / foggers do not work for bed bugs, and in fact, will spread them. Your problem will be magnified. Trust me!

Don’t start bagging everything you own. With the exception of washed and dried clothing (according to specific instructions below and in the FAQs), do not seal up everything you own in bags. Some PCOs will want you to inspect, vacuum, and seal all your posessions in bags. Most won’t. Following their advice is crucial, since they know what they’re using on your problem. If you decide to bag things, you may be sealing away bed bugs– and this is only a way of dealing with the problem if you put these items in storage for 18 months, unopened. Instead, most PCOs will vigorously fight your problem, and bed bugs will be attracted out of your posessions and towards poisons which will kill them.

Do start dealing with your clothing and linens. Though you should not simply seal your posessions in bags (as above), it is probably a good idea to start working on clothing and bedding, since the PCO is going to tell you to do this, and it takes time. You should take clothing and other items, wash them in a machine on hot, dry them on hot for 1-2 hours. Remember, driers vary as to their strength and how long they take with what size of load. My personal method is that items should at least be dried on hot for 20 minutes after they appear to be fully dry and very hot. If you want to be cautious, go for two hours on hot. Dry cleaning is okay too. Keep in mind that pillows, comforters, down coats, and other thick items may take longer. Here’s the key: after washing and drying, bag items in sealed, airtight bags, and do not remove them until use. Our FAQs give more explicit suggestions.

Don’t assume bed bugs are only in your bed. While bed frames and mattresses and headboards are the most likely location for bed bugs, they can and do often hide out in sofas and other soft furniture, electrical sockets (behind plates), light fixtures, baseboards, floor crevices, and other crevices in the bedroom and living room. Bed bugs are occasionally found in kitchens and bathrooms. This should not make you panic: most cases, especially smaller ones, are quite concentrated, usually 10-20 feet from where people sleep (or where they sit for extended periods). However, if a PCO tells you bed bugs are not found in living rooms, realize that many Bedbuggers have infested sofas, computer chairs, and so on. Don’t believe that bed bugs only bite at night. They prefer a sleeping, stationary host who is fast asleep. But if they’re hungry, they’ll take what they can get. You can be bitten while in a chair, awake.

Once you get a PCO treating your place, don’t assume this will be solved overnight. If your PCO treats and you are still being bitten, this is normal. The bites should decrease and eventually disappear. If you see bed bugs or are bitten, do have another treatment within 10-14 days of the first. Do insist the PCO repeat treatment every two weeks until you feel no more bites, and see no live bedbugs or new signs of bed bugs (like bed bug feces stains in the bed). Do not assume you have a bad PCO because it takes three or four treatments to solve your problem. This, unfortunately, is common, even if you follow all the advice. However, do ask questions, from the first treatment on, and take notes: what is the PCO using? What does each substance do? Make a note of where each substance is applied, and how long the process takes. If a few treatments go by and you are suspicious, post a question here with these details– experienced Bedbuggers and reputable PCOs read this site and may be able to offer advice as to whether you’re getting good service or not. Stay on top of what’s happening, but be honest with the PCO about what you’re doing, and ask what you can do to support treatment. If they are good, they will welcome your involvement. Vacuuming every day in some cases is a good idea, in others, it may sabotage the work of certain substances left down to kill bed bugs. The same is true of bagging everything you own, as above. Never assume that you should do what someone online is doing, since they may be working with a different pest control protocol.

The following two suggestions came from Geof Day:

Do consider posting your infestation on The Bedbug Registry.

Do read “Can Information Spread Faster than BedBugs?” Add to it if you would like. (Note: you can add to it by signing up for the Yahoo bedbugger group at that link, and replying to that message.)

Editor’s note: Thanks Geof!

Comments for this page are now closed. Please post a message on our Bedbugger Forums if you have questions or need support. If you have suggestions for improving this FAQ, or other comments, please contact me.

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