Cincinnati.com reports that fourteen people living in a Hamilton County, Ohio apartment building were displaced overnight by a fire caused by someone spraying alcohol-based pesticides while smoking:

Fire investigators have determined the blaze was started by a resident spraying for bed bugs while smoking, said Capt. Steve Conn, spokesman for the Colerain Township Fire Department.

“They were spraying for bed bugs, and it had alcohol in it,” Conn said. “One of the residents lit up a cigarette, and it basically flashed and started the room on fire.”

[Emphasis mine.]

This is very dangerous, obviously, and it is a good thing no one was seriously injured, and that most of the residents have been able to return home.

This Hamilton County Public Health document (click for PDF) reminds residents who rent that

If you rent a home or apartment within Hamilton County (excluding cities of Cincinnati, Norwood, Sharonville or Springdale) and you think you have bed bugs, please contact the Hamilton County General Health District at (513) 946-7832. Health District sanitarians will work with your landlord to eliminate the problem.

Self-treating for bed bugs is often ineffective and can be dangerous, as this story reminds us.  And this is not the first fire caused by attempts to get rid of bed bugs.

People in Hamilton County have other options for bed bug treatment; what about tenants and low-income homeowners living elsewhere who don’t?Similar Posts:

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• Fox Chicago engages with the tenants vs. landlords bed bug blame game

Florida’s WCTV.com recently ran a story about the wonderful methods used at the University of Florida to bake bed bugs in furniture (they set up an ad hoc oven in the center of the room).

That’s not news to us.

However, this report also contained a curious sidenote:

The environmental protection agency has prohibited the use of pesticides to kill bed bugs.

Huh?!?

I think not.

See the original article here: Bed Bug Heater.Similar Posts:

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This article from Local 12 in Cincinnati, Ohio reports that a resident’s attempts to self-treat for bed bugs likely contributed to a fire last night in Scottwood Avenue in Bond Hill.

Investigators believe the resident was treating a bedroom with a mixture of alcohol and bug killing solution. A cigarette may have ignited fumes generated by the mixture.

Oh dear.

I assume the alcohol is 91% rubbing alcohol, which some people use as an inexpensive contact killer for bed bugs.  Many people probably overdo it.  It is important to remember that even a common household item such as rubbing alcohol is flammable (and also generates fumes which may cause danger).  And, honestly, you are probably not doing any good if you are trying to saturate your home with any contact killer (alcohol or otherwise).

Smoking around alcohol or pesticides is just a very bad idea.  And pesticides should only be used appropriately and according to the label instructions.

Bedbugger understands how expensive bed bugs are to get rid of, but we still recommend getting a professional who is knowledgeable about and experienced with bed bugs to treat your home.  (With the usual caveat: all bed bug professionals are not experienced in efficiently and successfully killing bed bugs.)  Not only is it usually quicker and more effective to get someone with experience to do this job, it is also usually much safer than doing your own pest control. We say this as consumers; if you could do it more easily or cheaply, believe me, we would happily tell you.

And if you apply anything at all, please, please be careful. This isn’t the first fire we’ve heard of (apparently) being caused by DIY bed bug treatment. There have been other cases where misuse of pesticides in bed bug treatment have led to injury or death.  Another man, in New Jersey, caused an explosion and fire using bug spray.  And then there are the bug bomb injuries and deaths.

A recent survey showed that 14.5% of the people in Cincinnati have had bed bugs.  Of these, 31% used only an over-the-counter spray to treat for bed bugs.

And those are the do-it-yourself folks who only used an OTC spray.  I am not sure of the definition of over-the-counter: does it include professional-grade materials available for public purchase?  If so, we can only guess that an even larger percentage self-treated with more powerful materials, dusts, etc.

Seeing bed bugs or suffering from bed bug bites is unpleasant and can cause serious sleep deprivation and stress, and sometimes more serious health problems.  Lots of people in Cincinnati are desperate to get rid of bed bugs, and many of them cannot afford to pay for professional treatment.  Stories like this remind us that this can be a dangerous situation to be in.Similar Posts:

• Yet another person tries to self-treat for bed bugs and sets building on fire
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• Apartment Therapy on bed bugs, bed bug sniffing dogs
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• Entire Kansas City high-rise gets thermal treatment for bed bugs

The web is buzzing about a new pyrethroid-resistance study of New York City bed bugs by researchers at the University of Massachusetts and Seoul National University. Pyrethroid-resistance is just one reason it is often so hard to get rid of bed bugs.

Two of the many articles picking up on the study’s results included this item in the U.S. News and World Report Health Blog today, and this article from Monday’s LiveScience.

As the U.S. News Health blogger reported,

Bed bugs in New York City, where infestations have grown in recent years, appear to have developed nerve cell mutations that weaken the effect of the pyrethroid toxins, such as deltamethrin, commonly used against them, according to a report in the current issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology. Such nervous system poisons normally would paralyze and kill the nocturnal blood suckers.

Toxicologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Korea’s Seoul National University found that the New York City bed bugs are now as much as 264 times more resistant to deltamethrin than an easier-to-kill type of bed bug found in Florida.

Pyrethroid-resistance is no surprise to us, since it has been found elsewhere.

Unfortunately, the current round of press coverage of the U Mass-Amherst / Seoul National U study may give those not in the know about pyrethroid-resistance the sense that this is a “New York City” problem, which it isn’t.

This 2007 article in PCT Online from Alvero Romero, Michael Potter and Kenneth F. Haynes outlines a study comparing pyrethroid-resistance found in populations from around the US:

Further testing of third-to-fifth instar nymphs from 16 different field populations indicated that pyrethroid resistance in bed bugs, while not universal, may be widespread (see accompanying map and table on pages 44 and 48). Using a “discriminating” dose equivalent to 10 times the labeled rate of deltamethrin (0.6 percent), 14 of 16 populations collected in Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Florida and California were resistant (0 percent mortality), one field population from New Jersey was deemed “intermediate” (45 percent mortality), and one of the two populations collected from the same building in California was relatively susceptible (100 percent mortality).

(Information on getting a copy of this study follows at the bottom of the post.)

The Livescience article helps put the new pyrethroid-resistance data in perspective, with the help of Dr. Lou Sorkin, a friend to Bedbuggers everywhere:

Unless the researchers sampled every population of bed bugs in New York, it is unlikely that all NYC bed bugs are resistant to the insecticide, said Louis Sorkin, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Also, most pest control companies rely on more than one insecticide to combat bed bugs, he said. The ideal is to use a combination of chemicals that have different modes of action — perhaps one is good at killing the adults and nymphal stages immediately while another is better at lingering and killing bugs days later — and come from different chemical families, not just pyrethroids, Sorkin said.

Exterminators also have different ways to administer insecticides, which can make a difference — foams, powders, aerosols. However, over-the-counter aerosol bombs are not recommended. They just cause the bugs to scatter, Sorkin said, and fail to get inside cracks where bugs can hide.

“Some people don’t like to say they have bed bugs. They try to take care of it themselves,” Sorkin said. But amateur attempts often just push the bugs away for a while and spread them into neighboring properties.

Lou reminds us not to take an infestation lightly. If you’re using traditional treatments for bed bugs, a multi-pronged approach is best. The article notes that Integrated Pest Management (IPM) solutions go beyond sprays and dusts:

Techniques include caulking, spackling and using other sealants to fill cracks and crevices, refinishing and sealing floors, injecting frozen carbon dioxide “snow” into electronics to freeze pests, re-painting walls and other surfaces, using low-moisture steam and clothes dryer heat to kill bugs, and injecting bug-killing dust into electrical outlets and switches.

Commodity fumigation (usually done by sulfuryl fluoride gas, including Vikane TM) is also mentioned by Lou in the article. (The home itself obviously must be treated thoroughly if items are to be gassed and returned to it.)

Thermal heat is not specifically mentioned, but is now an option which can be effective.

If done properly, no bed bug is resistant to sulfuryl fluoride (Vikane TM) or thermal heat. However, these options can be more expensive, and are not available everywhere.

Pyrethroid-resistance is a good reason for the pest control industry to keep seeking alternative solutions to bed bugs and for all pest professionals, landlords, tenants, and property owners to get serious about an aggrerssive, multi-pronged approach to fighting bed bugs.

The new research study referred to in these articles is:

Yoon, K. S., Kown, D. H., Strycharz, J. P., Hollingsworth, C. S., Lee, S. H., and Clark, J. M. 2008. Biochemical and Molecular Analysis of Deltamethrin Resistance in the Common Bed Bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae). J. Med. Entomol. 45(6): 1092-1101.

(Use accession number 185379 to get a PDF of this item from the Armed Forces Pest Management Board Literature Retrieval System! Accession numbers for items below are also noted where available.)

Also see the study referenced in the PCT Online article above:

Romero, A., M.F. Potter, D.A. Potter and K.F. Haynes. 2007. Insecticide resistance in the bed bug: a factor in the pest’s sudden resurgence? J. Med. Entomol. 44 (2):175-178. Accession number 183531.

The PCT Online article linked to above also suggests the following articles:

Myamba, J, C.A. Maxwell, A. Asidi and C.F. Curtis. 2002. Pyrethroid resistance in tropical bed bugs, Cimex hemipterus, associated with use of treated bednets. Med. and Vet. Entomol. 16, 448-451. Accession number 175921.

Boase, C.J., G. Small, and R. Naylor. 2006. Interim report on insecticide susceptibility status of UK bedbugs. Professional Pest Controller. Summer 2006:6-7.

Karunaratne, S.H.P.P., B.T. Damayanthi, M.H.J. Fareena, V. Imbuldeniya, and J. Hemingway. 2007. Insecticide resistance in the tropical bed bug Cimex hemipterus. Pestic. Bochem. Physiol. 88, 102-107. Abstract.

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I was poking around some historical items, for reasons which will soon become revealed to you, dear readers, when I found an interesting document from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation which outlines the history of DDT in Canada, the US (the three countries represented on the CEC) until 1997.  Click here to load a PDF of History of DDT in North America to 1997, from the CEC.

Please understand: we don’t think DDT is a solution for bed bugs now. Sure — despite being ecologically-minded and kind of nervous around pesticides in general — like many of you, my first reaction to bed bugs was “Bring back DDT!”  However, learning more made me realize this was not practical, and not even an effective solution anymore. I don’t want to entertain a discussion of this.

The fact is, bed bugs started showing resistance to DDT as early as 1948 in Hawaii, and reports from the 1950s and 1960s, as well more recently, tell us that bed bugs were not killed when spraying with DDT was done for malarial mosquitos. (This BBC article from 2001 claims that DDT spraying for malarial mosquitos in South Africa made bed bugs more active. Shudder.)

If you don’t believe bed bugs are resistant to DDT, Renee has previously laid out all the evidence for you at New York vs. Bed Bugs, in this post, and I encourage you to check it out.

However, I do think this CEC history of DDT is relevant to us today, in terms of thinking about the laws around pesticides.

In 1969, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) cancelled the registration of certain uses of DDT (on shade trees, on tobacco, in the home, and in aquatic environments) after studying the persistence of DDT residues in the environment. Applications on crops, commercial plants, wood products, and for building purposes were cancelled by the USDA in 1970. Under the authority of the EPA, the registrations of the remaining DDT products and DDT-metabolites were cancelled on 4 January 1973, with the following exemptions: public health use for control of vector-borne diseases, USDA or military use for health quarantine, and use in prescription drugs for controlling body lice. All of these remaining uses were voluntarily cancelled (due to failure to pay maintenance fees) by October 1989.

Emphasis mine.

I had not realized that even after being outlawed in the US for home and agricultural use in 1970, and after being prohibited for most other uses in 1973, you could still legally get DDT until 1989 for some purposes including treating pests which caused vector-borne diseases (a category which does not include bed bugs) and for body lice.

This is relevant because, while DDT does not appear to be one of them, there are classes of chemicals which are currently outlawed in certain areas which are effective against bed bugs.  It is worth remembering that agencies can make exceptions to allow some of those substances to be labeled for bed bug use and allowed in controlled situations.  Winston gives us a glimpse of one product not available for this use in the US, Ficam, here:

… as mentioned in my first piece, misguided legislation have forced many products out of the market. Some due to legitimate concerns, some due to a lack of true scientific evaluation and feel-good politics, and some because they simply could not afford to maintain registration due to increased requirements. A prime example of this is Ficam, a material which is used elsewhere with a degree of success, but here in the US is no more. The same in fact would have been true of Drione, one of the remaining effective dusts. Prior to the bed bug outbreak this product was due to go by the wayside simply because of economics, and now it is probably one of the good long-term materials when used properly in wall voids, outlet covers and cracks and crevices.

As Winston has reminded us elsewhere, even pyrethrins are outlawed for use in city-owned buildings by Local Law 37.  Despite pyrethroid-resistance, pyrethrins can be an important part of a bed bug treatment plan.  This law is misguided and means residents of public housing, homes, kids in public school classrooms and people in city-run institutions may have less effective bed bug treatment.

And while some might think LL 37 is protecting New York citizens’ health, you have to ask yourself: if the pesticides prohibited in publicly-owned buildings, then they’d be outlawed in private schools and apartment  buildings too, not just in the city-owned buildings.

In New York, it’s one reason we need to encourage the city to take action.  Some legislative changes can help in the fight against bed bugs.

As Michael Potter said last summer at the PCT Bed Bug Seminar,

“If there is a classic example of why you don’t eliminate entire classes of pesticides,” Potter said, “bed bugs are it. We’re in a heap of trouble in terms of the products we have available to fight this pest,” citing several classes of chemistry that are no longer available (e.g., organophosphates, carbamates, etc.) and the growing threat of pyrethroid resistance. As a result, he said, “I don’t see how this problem is going to get better. I think it’s going to get chaotic. This is the most challenging pest I’ve encountered in my career. We’re in big trouble.”

We are in big trouble.

I don’t even know how to begin to help lobby for better pesticides.  I assume pest control operators, entomologists, and their professional organizations are doing so.  Maybe they can tell us if there’s something we bed bug activists can do to help.   It seems so essential that we get all the help we can get in fighting bed bugs.

Finally, because someone always asks: I am not pesticide-happy. I am, in fact, more enthusiastic about non-chemical solutions to bed bugs. Not only because they do develop resistance to pesticides, but also because I seek safe, ecologically-friendly, easy solutions to bed bug problems.

Steaming, thermal treatments, and other solutions are labor-intensive. Steam requires dedicated, persistent, repetead work (and in most cases, probably requires the backup use of targeted use of dusts or sprays).

Thermal treatments require an experienced operator and expensive equipment. For those who can afford it, and who have access to knowledgeable providers, this can be a good option. We can only hope that effective non-chemical options will become more widely available and less costly.

When we’re talking about the extensive spread of bed bugs, though, we have to be realistic about the types of treatment likely to be implemented. Making sure the most effective pesticides (or at least, a variety of pesticides, to help offset resistance to individual chemicals) is probably better for both people living with bed bugs, as well as the environment.  Because getting rid of the problem more quickly means less pesticides will be needed.

Once the bed bug epidemic is under control, and we’re back where we were in the 1970s, with isolated outbreaks, then we might be able to deal with the problem in other ways. We’re a long way from that situation.  And we will probably never get there again if pest control operators are not able to use whatever tools they can safely use in order to eliminate them.Similar Posts:

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MSNBC did a report on Friday about the problem of bed bugs on college campuses, warning students and their parents about bed bugs going back to school (or, for that matter, coming home from school).

Don’t be put off by the fact that Matt Lauer opens the segment by dropping the nursery rhyme bomb.

Watch the video below, and pay special attention to the system senior pest control technician Wayne Walker is using at the University of Florida: baking bed bug-infested items in a “makeshift styrofoam oven” constructed inside the room. Of course, the room itself also needs thorough treatment.

Please do not try this at home. But let’s all hear it for imaginative and creative professional bed bug killers!

Wayne Walker also stresses the need to educate students on how to avoid bed bugs.

We also hear that The University of California at Berkeley is using heat, cold, and pesticides to fight bed bugs.

Matt Lauer talks to Rick Cooper, who brings in a sample “mattress” with fecal stains, and talks about mattress encasements, how students bring bed bugs into their homes (and parents’ homes), and the difficulties of bed bug treatment.

(Bonus: watch Matt Lauer giggle in embarrassment at the phrase “fecal stains”!)

Along with other segments appearing in the print and tv news in the last week or so, I’d say this year marks the most back-to-college bed bug coverage we’ve seen yet.

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MSNBC reports that an Eatontown, NJ man blew his apartment up while trying to get rid of insects with bug spray in his apartment:

The accident occurred as [Isias Vidal] Maceda was spraying for pests in his kitchen. Somehow the bug spray ignited a blast that blew out the apartment’s front windows and triggered a fire that quickly spread, the newspaper said.

Eighty percent of the apartment was destroyed and the neighboring apartment suffered smoke damage.

There’s no indication of whether the problem was bed bugs, though it would not surprise me, as this is one pest people often try and self treat, rather than admit to their landlords that they need help.

I think this is more true with bed bugs than with other pests because people often feel embarrassed about having bed bugs, especially if they normally keep their homes pest-free. Since this is one pest that is not attracted to messy or dirty homes, it’s impossible to prevent.

Bedbugger doesn’t recommend self-treatment of bed bugs for a variety of reasons, one of which is that they can be dangerous if misused.

An even more tragic story featuring an attempt at self-treating for bed bugs is here.

If you’re still tempted to do it yourself, read this, and remember: if you must use pesticides, always use them carefully and as labeled.
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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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Note: since this post was written, Bedbugger has a new FAQ on Killing Bed Bugs With Steam. There are steamer recommendations and further tips on technique and safety in the Steaming FAQ, compiled by bedbugger Mangycur and nobugs.

We have long had a success stories page. And though readers often forget to write and tell us of their success, when they do, I’ve been pasting the stories in there.

Some, however, are longer and more detailed than can fit into the page. So I have decided, from here on in, to give each its own post, and to link to that from the success stories page.

Now, I give you Collette’s bed bug success story (10/2007):

First phase, the discovery:

I had been scratching my arms like crazy at night for several weeks. This started to really impair my sleep. But I never suspected anything gross, and the reason was that my husband slept through the whole thing without even as much as a scratch. So first lesson: Not everybody scratches. One very early morning, after a sleepless itchy night, which I like to call my last night of innocence, I stumbled my way to my iMac and googled: arms itching night.

I was instantly flooded with allergies-related results, I was to take an allergy test, and find out what it is my body cannot take. Had I recently changed soap? Was Zytec right for me? I knew I was not allergic, never had been allergic to anything, and thought never will be. (Second lesson: Now, I am allergic, but the details will come later).

Buried, almost hidden, within the sea of allergy sites, one result line grabbed my attention. More exactly, one word in the line : bedbugs. At least it sounded different than the rest, I clicked. I was faced with the picture of a round-shaped brown bug, not exactly ugly. There was even a Latin name for it, and a very long story about what a terrible thing they are, and how impossible it is to get rid of them, and how they can make you scratch all night long.

I shrugged. Yes, I shrugged, so comforted by my own naiveté, that I could not possibly harbor such a repulsive thing in my very cozy pricey king-size bed. I headed back to the bed, making a mental note to self: Get an appointment for an allergy test. As I was walking around the bed to occupy my rightful side, passing by my snoring open-mouthed husband, I noticed a dark spot seemingly moving on top of my white-as-snow comforter. I got closer, and there it was, doing his morning jog, the exact reproduction of the image I had just shrugged at on my iMac screen. A bedbug, and a big one. A rounded one, which means his belly was full. Full of blood. Full of yours truly’s blood. I had bedbugs. I would never be the same person again.

Second phase, a naïve and hysterical attempt to get rid of the bedbugs:

Luckily, it was a day off. I immediately woke my husband up, and announced to him that we were infested. He had no idea what we were dealing with. Neither did I, but I knew more than him. We had to clean up. We did. We lifted the king-size mattress against the wall, and started inspecting it. We immediately found them. They were hidden under the mattress seams. We cleaned that. Should we throw the mattress away? We decided we should. So we started to shop on line for new mattresses. Nothing happens in a day, so we kept sleeping on infested mattress for a few more nights. We had an exterminator come in. A nice fellow, who quoted us $2,500 to take care of the problem, with no warranty, and a lot of prep work to be done by us. We decided we would do the work alone. I read everything there is to read about the issue on the blessed internet, ordered a whole case of deadly poisons online and we started spraying around. I literally threw half of my bedroom contents in the garbage. Everything that was worth saving, but that I could live without, I sealed in to plastic bags and stored in a container located in my back yard for a period that was set to 18 months. (Based on the assumption that the bedbugs can live a little over a year without food). Overreacting? Nope. Under-reacting. They kept biting me. I searched all the rooms in the house to finally come to the conclusion that they were only in my bedroom, but some forensic evidence suggested they might have once resided in the guest room, and then migrated to greener and bloodier pastures, my warm sleeping body.

Began the era of suspicion, which guest brought that questionable gift? We started gossiping about the hygiene of everyone we knew and had been kind enough to pay us a visit in the middle of our woods. We were mean. We were desperate. And then the worse came, the karmic punishment, my daughter told on us to the neighbor. Innocently, as a perfectly legitimate response to the question: Did you have a good week end? She decided to describe my epic battle against the bugs to my closest neighbor. We were exposed. I got sympathetic displays of support, was told that New York is infested, that it is not my fault, that I am not dirty, etc.. I spent a few more evenings spraying and cleaning. I bought a mattress cover. I bought white sheets, washing them daily, to be able to spot the tiniest intruder. My husband decided to keep our prisoners alive in a Tupperware box and experiment on them various pesticides. I was not sleeping much.

Third phase: Getting smart and desperate

By then, I was almost philosophical. I was thinking I am being tested by some higher powers. Had I been a believer, I would have certainly gone far into that path. My husband, on the other hand, was simply happy the house was getting cleaned much more frequently. Have I mentioned he slept though the whole thing? Well, he did. I, was not sleeping at all. First I had adopted an anti-bug attire to go to bed: Socks, PJ pants stuck into the socks, long sleeves shirt stuck into the pants, rubber bands on the wrists, and insect-repellent spray all over the whole package. Probably the part that my husband did not really appreciate, this attire was not working for him, go figure. And then I read that bedbugs will find their way to your blood no matter what, and will not hesitate to bite your eyelids. I got the hint, and took the socks off. Bite my feet, if you want. They did. I was sleeping by periods of 10 minutes, waking up at every real or imaginary itch on my body, and immediately grabbing the flash light to catch the perp in action. My husband had KGB inspired dreams, I had no dreams at all. Why didn’t I move to a hotel or another room? Simple, they would have migrated out of my room, and I wanted them in there. Also, it had evolved into a principle. They will not drive me out of my room and my bed. I started following them at night, and establishing theories about their habits. I was now able to recognize them at their different stages of life, the egg, the nymph, the adult. I knew their hours. I knew their paths. I learnt more and more about them. They are not social, they are resilient, they scatter when threatened, and they can go dormant for months if needed. And the more I knew, the more I realized it would be very hard to exterminate them. By the way, before the bedbugs, I honestly believed every life form should be respected. Like I said, I will never be the same person again.

Then one night, I got bitten by a tiny one, a baby if you will, very energetic. That was one bite too much. I stood up in the middle of my room and started crying uncontrollably. My husband opened an eye and looked at me, he then asked me to turn off the light because it was disturbing his sleep. He was smart enough the next morning to deny any remembrance of that request, and claimed he was probably sleep-talking. Nevertheless, I moved to the living room, and ordered him to keep sleeping in the bedroom as a bait. Which he did, gladly.

Fourth phase: War and victory

And one day, I knew. I had to kill them all, in all their stages, wherever they were, whatever it took. Obviously the pesticides were not working. They were only killing me. By then I was highly allergic to the Drione powder I had purchased to allegedly melt their disgusting little bodies. I was sneezing twenty times in a row every time I moved an item in my bedroom. I had read that the diatomaceous earth I was practically sleeping in could cause cancer. (Editor’s note: see response below.) I was slowly dying, and they were in great shape. It would have to be mano a mano. The conventional way. I had to go to battle against them directly, not hidden behind a sprayer.

I made the smartest purchase of my life, I bought a dry steam cleaner. $1,500 of killing steam. This would be my weapon of choice. And I went to war. The war lasted 8 straight hours, during which I went through every inch of wood and mattress in my bedroom, with a flashlight in one hand and a steam nozzle in the other. I crawled into unbelievable spots, I moved unbelievable weights, I was super-human for a day. I made no compromise, did not skip one crevice, I followed them home. I found them, everywhere. I found their eggs, found their hiding places, sometimes in the tiniest little nail holes. And I steamed them. 310 F of burning steam. They did not have a chance. I knew that even one survivor could mean re-infestation. Then I left the room and took a shower. I had a cold beer. And I came back into my bedroom, sparkling clean, smelling like a dry-cleaner shop. And I knew they were gone. I just knew. Since then I have been sleeping like a baby. So does my husband, but he always did. They are gone.

Some will say maybe they scattered, maybe they are hiding, maybe there are eggs. I know there aren’t. They are ALL dead, I killed them one by one with my bare hands.

This is my recommendation: No pesticides. Just steam and good hard work.

Colette

—————

Editor’s note:

Thanks Collette!

I have a few comments.

First, we generally recommend professional pest control operators (PCOs) because they can often get rid of bed bugs faster and more fully than self-treatment. Pesticides are imperfect, but in many cases, necessary.

That said, steam absolutely does work. Some PCOs use it and later apply dusts or sprays. PCOs may also use steam in lieu of other treatments in sensitive cases where pesticides might pose a problem to residents. It certainly can work well for individuals who do their research and (as you note) do a lot of hard work.

We do have to keep in mind that it will not work if the steam cannot penetrate every place where bed bugs are living and laying eggs. (For example, this can be deep within a sofa, or inside the wall.) If steam alone, as per your tactics, did not work, or if readers wanted to be sure they got rid of bed bugs quickly, they might combine steam and then pesticides and/or freshwater DE (all properly applied, of course). We haven’t heard again from you, and we hope they were all killed, but in most cases, it would probably be best to have some residual pesticide or food grade DE waiting in case they pop out.

I note that you used a $1500 professional steamer. Less expensive dry steamers in the $400 range can be found in the Useful Stuff page and have been recommended by readers and PCOs. (Dry steam, we’re told, is better than the wet steam cheaper steamers put out, because that can lead to mold and mildew growth, along with its own health issues.)

Regarding diatomaceous earth: first, you should not be sleeping in it, and it should only be used in small amounts and in crevices that won’t be disturbed. Used correctly, I have read that food grade freshwater DE should be safe. If you have articles suggesting otherwise, please share them.

On the other hand, inhaling any dust, or drione, is not a good thing, and so your sneezing was a sign something was wrong.

Thanks again for sharing your story! Steam has many fans in our readers, and your story will no doubt inspire many who are willing and able to do the work.

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A reader in Qatar writes,

Hello,

I’ve just found your website doing research on my own problem. I live
in Doha, Qatar (Middle East) and have been suffering through what I am
convinced is a bedbug infestation. There are some things I don’t
understand though:

- I don’t get bitten in bed, only when I sit on the couch
- my husband and 2 children don’t have any bites, only me and one
other child (I’m sure they are bugs, the pictures of the bites look
exactly the same)

We live in a place where external spraying is continual because there
are a lot of roaches around – one of the joys of living in a desert. I
don’t think the spray they use for that would work on bedbugs if I had
them spray inside – would it? I have small children, so I don’t like
the idea of them spraying things I can’t check up on.

Our house is a stand-alone house, not an apartment, and the walls are
concrete block, not wood. I don’t think there is any wood in the
construction of the house at all. Not even drywall – it’s solid
cement, marble or laminate floors.

My husband has sprayed in the house (an American product that says
it’s safe for kids and pets and kills bedbugs), paying attention to
the places where I’ve been bitten, but I don’t know how effective that
will be. We have a maid here and our house is immaculately cleaned and
laundered, so cross contamination throughout the house would be
minimal. But things like packing everything into ziplock bags is just
not realistic given that I have 3 small kids.

The emotional toll this has is unbelievable, especially when doctors
here tell me it isn’t insect bites (because they get a little puss
welt sometimes so I’ve even been told I have chicken pox) and no one
else is really being affected. And, it’s gorgeous weather here now,
and I feel very self-conscious about showing any affected skin – it’s
gross! Antihistamenes help a little bit, but it’s nutty to have to be
on medication to get rid of this – it’s the bugs, not me!

Thank you so much for your help,

Bedbugged in Qatar

Hi Bedbugged in Qatar,

Sorry you’re dealing with this.

First, have you seen bed bugs? They are very hard to diagnose based on bite appearance alone, and we don’t all get the same reactions. Other conditions like folliculitis and scabies can cause similar marks sometimes. On the other hand, it is very common for only some (or none!) in a household to react to bed bug bites. It is not unusual for one partner to react while the other partner and kids don’t. They may in time, or they may not. Dr. Michael Potter says up to 50% of people do not react to bites. It does not mean they are not being bitten. The bed bugs could also be in their beds or rooms.

Second, the term “bed bug” is a misnomer. They can certainly infest your couch or sofa, or other upholstered chairs. They can even be in cracks and crevices in the concrete structure or in wooden furniture (especially in gaps, where you won’t see them–they love to squeeze into tight spaces and hide). Sofa infestations are often caused when a family member or guest has bed bugs in their clothing or in a bag brought from inside and placed on the sofa. I would personally treat more than just the couch and surrounding area, because you do not know that you and the one child are only being bitten there. Bed bug bites can appear up to 9 days later, though most of us think we get them within a day or so after being bitten. It’s extremely unlikely you feel the bites as they occur, even if you think you do. Therefore, you and the child may also be bitten in bed or other locations. And the husband and other kids can also be bitten anywhere in the home and not react.

You said, “We have a maid here and our house is immaculately cleaned and laundered, so cross contamination throughout the house would be minimal.” Actually, I would not assume this was so. A maid going from room to room cleaning could certainly carry and spread bed bugs around. They can be sucked into a vacuum and crawl out in another room, hide in a rag being carried from one place to the next, and so on. They could even be in your maid’s pocket or cuff and go from your home to hers (or the other way around). I don’t want to single out the maid, though. Any family member could also port bed bugs from place to place in clothing or in a book or bag or other item.

In a stand-alone home, the bed bugs either were there before you moved in (if you moved in the last few months, this is possible–and you may have been bitten for even a few months before reacting to bites) or were brought in. They could have been brought in via someone who traveled to a hotel or visited others in their homes. But they can also come from everyday “travel” via buses, taxis, trains, planes, or even from the workplace, school, or by purchasing something in a shop or bringing home dry cleaning or laundry. You should read our travel FAQs which include advice on how not to spread bed bugs to others, as well as how to avoid picking them up in future.

Now, assuming you have bed bugs, you are right: it’s the bugs, not you, that is the problem. You have to get rid of them, so let’s consider your treatment options. We’re often told that one factor in the resurgence of bed bugs in North America is the abandonment of routine baseboard spraying for roaches (which are often now dealt with via gels rather than sprays). So it is possible that the chemical that’s being sprayed might help against bed bugs, but it might need to be used in a different way. I would suggest you try to find out what they use (the chemical’s name), and one of the professionals here might be able to comment on it.

I am not sure what your “American product that says it’s safe for kids and pets and kills bedbugs” is. If you give us information on that (product name) it may help. It is probably not a pesticide with a residual that keeps killing, but might be a mechanical killer (a dust containing diatomaceous earth, DE, which kills bed bugs that walk through it) or a contact kill spray (which only kills bed bugs you spray directly). Many professionals in the US will use some combination of the three. Used alone, of the three, the third (contact kill spray) is seriously unlikely to solve your problem, because you are not going to be able to find and spray directly anything but a small fraction of your bed bugs.

I know you are concerned about safety, as all of us are, but the best thing, truly, is to get someone in there who has real pesticides and knows how to use them safely. That includes knowing what to use, and where, and also how long to tell you to stay away. They need to understand that you have kids (and pets, if you do). The good news is that many countries outside the US have pesticides available which may be more effective against bed bugs than what is legal here. I value safety, and my understanding is that many substances banned here would be safe if used properly. As much as you may want to avoid pesticides, it is also worth noting that if you don’t treat properly now, the bed bugs may spread and multiply to the point that many more pesticides must be used to eliminate them. Before you ask, moving is generally not a solution.

Since you live in a city, I would assume that someone there–some kind of professional– knows how to get rid of bed bugs. It may take some asking around. (Remember that locals and expats who could afford treatment probably would not expect to have to put up with bed bugs). But you really do need help with this. And maybe not just from the person who sprays outside for roaches, unless you confirm they know about bed bugs and how to treat for them. Trying to fight this on your own with a contact killer will be impossible, and even self-treating with a dust will likely take longer than a method which incorporates pesticide sprays with residuals. Someone there knows what to do, and it’s a matter of finding them.

As far as washing and bagging stuff goes, it may be less crucial if you have a newer infestation (though the longer you live with bed bugs, the more they will spread). If they are in your sofa, they can be picked up in the clothing of those sitting there. Washing and bagging all clothing, linens besides bedclothes, etc. is not always necessary, from what PCOs tell me. If you really are resistant to washing and bagging, I would start getting real bed bug treatment of some kind, and go from there. It’s possible that will be enough, though follow-up treatments may be necessary. And in the meantime, you can declutter and bag washing done in the interim.

If you find out what is being used as a spray, some of the professionals here or on thebedbugresource.com are likely to be able to tell you more about it and its use.

I hope this helps. Let us know if you have questions and definitely let us know how it goes.

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