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DE efficacy, possible DE resistance?
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Joined: Mar '07
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Posted 6 months ago
Mon May 18 2009 13:20:04
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I have just updated the DE FAQ to reflect a new post from Renee on NY vs Bed Bugs about the efficacy of diatomaceous earth (DE) and the possibility of DE resistance. Renee references this study.
Please read this update, which is reproduced in the comments of the DE FAQ.
Please also read Renee's post in full. You may want to join the conversation going on there.And, while it's ok to respond to this thread, please leave comments on the DE FAQ -- not the forums -- to make suggestions around this issue for our readers. Why? Because the DE FAQ is less easily lost or buried than a post in the forums, and because more people will see it, not just now, but later. You are helping keep the conversation about DE going.
I especially want to hear from entomologists and pest pros with extensive experience with DE and bed bugs.
Thanks!
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Hi,
I have read the abstract and posted an extensive reply via the blog. As I think it is important information I am also pasting that reply below.
David
Ok, now I read the abstract and took something completely different from it, I will explain but bear with me its a long one.
Firstly it is difficult to comment fully on a paper where you only see the abstract, its a bit like reading the juicy summary on the back of a book and being disappointed that all the pages are not as hot and steamy. It is meant to entice you to wade through the rest of the report and see how they came to that conclusion.
In this case the key things are that the study was done in a controlled micro climate. Without looking at the full paper it would be impossible to say exactly what they mean by this but it is likely to be some form of controlled and contained environment such as an empty fish tank or large smooth sided plastic box.
In which case as we all know from bed bug behavior in an un-occupied area they will find a place they are comfortable with a bed down until food or a stimuli to get up and move about comes along.
Now this is the key factor here, stimuli. The alarm pheromone is a stimuli or trigger for bed bugs to move because they either perceive the area as dangerous enough that a bed bug(s) has/have produced an alarm response. I am sure you would all agree that if in building when the fire alarm goes off we will all start to vacate the area, it is the same principle. You would observe similar effects if you sprayed the test area with raid or an aerosol based product, you keep the bed bugs moving and they will therefore come into contact with more shards of DE. We all know that using aerosols is not a sensible idea.
Bed Bugs will be more active in an area with a stimuli and will therefore come into more contact with DE and therefore become more cut and ergo loose more water.
The mechanisms of action for DE is physical, it cuts the waxy cuticles and causes the bed bugs to dehydrate. There is no biochemical aspect to it so bed bugs can not simple evolve or mutate to become resistant to it. Yes it is possible that the use of DE will create a selective pressure that could make it preferential for bed bugs with thicker cuticles to remain alive and breed but this is not a process that usually happens quickly (often over 100’s of years in humans and usually as a result of serious pressures).
My great fear from this paper is actually that someone will decide that mixing DE and alarm pheromone will make a new great product and that old DE will fall from flavour to be replaced with the new version. The reason I am worried about this is partly because with an active aromatic compound such as a pheromone the manufacturer can rightly claim that it needs to be reapplied on a monthly basis to remain at peak efficiency. This would in my mind be another shameful example of people parasitising on bed bug sufferers in the same way that the dust mite industry did at the start of the BB resurgence.
If this happens shame on them, I will name and shame if needed and I will certainly not lay down this time and let people miss-sell and miss inform on the way that products should be used.
If they are going to put this theory into test in the field then I sincerely hope that they closely monitor all adjoining properties because an excess of alarm pheromone may induce more spread of infestations between adjoining units and lets face it this is never a good idea.
If anyone has access to the full paper please let me know, I will try and request a copy but it is likely to take weeks to arrive. I could of course be wrong with my analysis of the study and the situation but frankly that is unlikely.
David Cain
Bed Bugs Limited -
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Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 5,547
Posted 6 months ago
Wed May 20 2009 13:28:12
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Thanks, David!
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