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Bed Bugs SprayOne of the biggest problems about bed bugs is their resistance to products that have been developed to kill them. So while there are various products on the market that claim to be able to guard against bed bugs, how effective are they, and why are some treatments more effective than others? Effectiveness of bed bug prevention treatmentsThe decision to use some sort of spray or sprays to prevent bed bugs will be based on the risk of whether bed bugs are likely to make your home their home. Or it might simply be because you don't want to hazard the possibility of bed bugs making an appearance in your home. Other motivation may be because your neighbors already have bed bug problems, or perhaps because you have moved into a new home - which is an old house - and you don't know what to expect. If there is any evidence of bed bug infestation, the only responsible action is to call in pest control experts. Thereafter you might want to continue a bed bug prevention treatment regime. With the recent resurgence of bed bugs worldwide, experts have been offering advice and assistance. They warn that the most common reasons bed bug control treatments fail are because:
Harold J. Harlan, a certified entomologist in the USA who is now a contract analyst for the Armed Forces Pest Management Board - and who has raised and observed bed bugs for decades - warns against people trying to fight bed bugs with over-the-counter chemicals. It is a well known fact that household insecticide sprays containing pyrethroids are not effective. According to US pest control expert George Rotramel, non-fumigants can only be used to prevent bed bugs establishing themselves. Once they have established themselves, fumigant pesticides must be used, he warns. A Code of Practice for the Control of Bed Bug Infestations in Australia (3rd Edition, May 2010) warns that only insecticides registered or permitted for use by the APVMA for the control of bed bugs may be used. The document does not recommend specific products, but it does mention that carbamates and organophosphates are suitable for control. These pesticides were commonly used until the mid-1980s to fumigate cockroaches, ants, flies, mosquitoes and other insects, and should only be used by specialists. Active ingredients currently registered in a number of countries for bed bug control include:
What preventative measure do workWhen it comes to bed bugs, George Rotramel, who was also a founding member of Ecology Action, is more concerned about accommodation venues than private homes, simply because they affect public health. However the same prevention and surveillance methods may be used in private homes. He advocates establishing "kill zones" in bedrooms and other areas, by applying non-fumigant, special insecticidal paint to bed baseboards and around doors and windows. He also recommends the use of insect growth regulators (which are not available in all countries), as well as the insecticide propoxur, which was banned for non use in the USA during the 1990s. Tests at the University of Kentucky in 2009 proved that if bedbugs were exposed to propoxur for 24 hours they would die and so would the bed bugs that hatched from eggs in the same harborage. Propoxur is still banned in the US, even though it is still used in some pesticides, including some dog flea collars. Rotramel slates "green" products that he says don't work.
If you choose to try organic products, follow the instruction to the letter. Most rely on a comprehensive preventative program that involves spraying, cleaning out cracks and crevices and sealing openings, amongst other things. |