Do I Actually Have to have to Call a Pest Manage Company If I Get Bed Bugs?

If Bee Removal Harlingen TX get bedbugs, you do not have to get in touch with a licensed pest control organization, but you’d be foolish not to, is the take-away message from a warning issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) final August. “Using the wrong pesticide or utilizing it incorrectly to treat for bedbugs can make you, your loved ones, and your pets sick,” the EPA mentioned in a customer alert quoted by The Hill Healthwatch on the web. “It can also make your property unsafe to live in – and may possibly not resolve the bedbug trouble.”

Alarmed by reports of hazardous pesticide misuse and intense measures being taken by some property owners and apartment dwellers in do-it-yourself efforts to eradicate bed bugs, the U.S. EPA and Centers for Disease Handle and Prevention (CDC) issued a joint statement final July warning buyers against using outside pesticide items inside their houses in attempts to get rid of bed bugs. Reports from licensed pest handle specialists in the field and news media of individuals dousing their beds, their pajamas and even bathing their young children in garden insecticides has caused increasing concern amongst government officials, the health-related community, public health guardians, and the National Pest Management Association (NPMA). The use of harsh chemical substances not approved by the EPA for residential use can bring about extreme burn-like irritation of the skin and eyes, probable harm to the central nervous program, and may even expose you to carcinogens.

There have also been quite a few news reports of property and apartment fires begun by desperate folks applying hugely flammable liquids to kill bedbugs. In January, a Cincinnati, Ohio man who was wiping down his furniture with a mixture of insecticide and alcohol began a fire in his apartment when his cigarette ignited fumes from the chemical mixture. In July 2008, an Eatontown, New Jersey man blew up his apartment although attempting do-it-yourself pest manage. A pilot light ignited the chemical spray and fumes causing an explosion that blew out the front windows of the apartment and resulted in a fire that destroyed the man’s apartment and brought on really serious harm to neighboring units.

“Pest manage firms reported seeing a lot of ineffective and potentially harmful measures employed by do-it-yourselfers, like ammonia, bleach, fire, smoke, kerosene, wasp spray, and bug bombs, as nicely as concentrated pesticides bought on the online,” University of Kentucky entomologist and national bedbug expert Michael Potter, writes in Bugs Without having Borders, Defining the International Bed Bug Resurgence, an international survey of pest management firms recently performed by the University of Kentucky in conjunction with the NPMA. “As bedbug victims turn into extra desperate, severe injury may perhaps outcome from such applications, especially among these who select not to employ a professional,” he warns.

Bedbugs do not often respond to residence treatment. These apple seed-sized insects that feed on human blood are hard to kill, a function of their biology and behavior. At ideal, do-it-yourself dwelling remedies might force bedbugs to relocate, spreading infestations a lot more quickly. These insects have a hard, protective carapace that is not very easily penetrated. To kill, pest control items will have to come into direct physical make contact with with the insect and their eggs are unaffected by solutions presently approved by the EPA for residential use. When not feeding, bedbugs hide in inaccessible spaces deep inside minute crevices, inside walls, behind baseboards, below floorboards, and inside electronic devices. Bedbugs and their eggs are also easily transported on clothing and belongings, enabling infestations to quickly spread through a house or apartment constructing. This mixture of biology and behavior tends to make it almost not possible to kill an entire bedbug infestation with a single pest manage therapy. Three professional pest handle therapies spaced two weeks apart are commonly needed to effectively exterminate a bedbug infestation and ensure that all hidden bugs and newly-hatched eggs have been killed.

Qualified extermination by a licensed pest handle enterprise with an expertise in bed bug elimination is the most successful way to exterminate bed bugs. The EPA, on the Bed Bug Information and facts Web page posted on its internet site, states, “Having a pest management qualified (PMP) involved as soon as feasible rather than taking time to try to treat the difficulty yourself is extremely efficient at stopping further infestations.”

Quickly action is critical in battling bed bug infestations. Bed bugs reproduce at an alarming rate and infestations can develop quickly. During its six- to 12-month lifespan, a female bed bug can lay 500 eggs with offspring capable of reproducing within a month. It is common to see three or additional bed bug generations present in an established infestation. Prompt therapy in the earliest stages of infestation can limit the infestation and prevents it from spreading.

To effectively treat bedbug infestations, licensed pest manage experts employ a mixture of environmental management procedures, known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and a variety of pest handle materials authorized by the EPA for residential use only by licensed pest management pros. Successful bedbug extermination begins with meticulous pre-remedy preparation to get rid of clutter, clothing, bed linens and other products that may possibly let bedbugs to escape exposure to pest handle materials. When site preparation is total, a combination of pest control components is employed to attack bedbugs on several levels.


Concerns about wellness and safety troubles that have arisen from misuse of pest handle chemical substances by unlicensed or improperly educated pest controllers and unqualified contractors trying to money in on public worry prompted the EPA to warn shoppers to steer clear of insect extermination services made with “unrealistic promises of effectiveness or low cost.”

Last July, a Newark, New Jersey pest control business was accused of illegal application of chemical compounds not authorized for residential use. Even though offering bed bug remedies to 70 homes and apartments units, technicians sprayed effective chemical substances on mattresses and children’s toys. In Cincinnati, Ohio last June, an unlicensed contractor hired to exterminate bed bugs saturated an apartment complicated with an agricultural pesticide, sending seven tenants to the hospital and causing public overall health authorities to quarantine the house.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top