Do I Genuinely Need to Contact a Pest Control Business If I Get Bed Bugs?

If you get bedbugs, you never have to get in touch with a licensed pest manage firm, but you’d be foolish not to, is the take-away message from a warning issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) final August. “Applying the incorrect pesticide or applying it incorrectly to treat for bedbugs can make you, your household, and your pets sick,” the EPA said in a consumer alert quoted by The Hill Healthwatch online. “It can also make your property unsafe to reside in – and may well not resolve the bedbug problem.”

Alarmed by reports of risky pesticide misuse and extreme measures being taken by some property owners and apartment dwellers in do-it-your self efforts to eradicate bed bugs, the U.S. EPA and Centers for Illness Manage and Prevention (CDC) issued a joint statement final July warning buyers against utilizing outdoor pesticide goods inside their homes in attempts to get rid of bed bugs. Reports from licensed pest manage pros in the field and news media of folks dousing their beds, their pajamas and even bathing their children in garden insecticides has brought on increasing concern amongst government officials, the health-related community, public wellness guardians, and the National Pest Management Association (NPMA). The use of harsh chemicals not authorized by the EPA for residential use can lead to serious burn-like irritation of the skin and eyes, possible damage to the central nervous method, and might even expose you to carcinogens.

There have also been quite a few news reports of house and apartment fires begun by desperate persons utilizing 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 started 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-your self pest control. 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 significant harm to neighboring units.

“Pest handle firms reported seeing numerous ineffective and potentially unsafe measures made use of by do-it-yourselfers, including ammonia, bleach, fire, smoke, kerosene, wasp spray, and bug bombs, as well as concentrated pesticides bought on the online,” University of Kentucky entomologist and national bedbug expert Michael Potter, writes in Bugs With out Borders, Defining the International Bed Bug Resurgence, an international survey of pest management companies lately carried out by the University of Kentucky in conjunction with the NPMA. “As bedbug victims come to be extra desperate, serious injury may perhaps outcome from such applications, particularly among these who choose not to hire a expert,” he warns.

Bedbugs do not normally respond to property remedy. These apple seed-sized insects that feed on human blood are challenging to kill, a function of their biology and behavior. At greatest, do-it-yourself residence treatments could force bedbugs to relocate, spreading infestations a lot more swiftly. These insects have a tough, protective carapace that is not conveniently penetrated. To kill, Accurate Termite and Pest Control need to come into direct physical make contact with with the insect and their eggs are unaffected by solutions presently authorized by the EPA for residential use. When not feeding, bedbugs hide in inaccessible spaces deep inside minute crevices, inside walls, behind baseboards, under floorboards, and inside electronic devices. Bedbugs and their eggs are also quickly transported on clothing and belongings, allowing infestations to promptly spread through a property or apartment building. This mixture of biology and behavior tends to make it practically impossible to kill an whole bedbug infestation with a single pest handle treatment. 3 expert pest handle treatments spaced two weeks apart are normally necessary to effectively exterminate a bedbug infestation and ensure that all hidden bugs and newly-hatched eggs have been killed.

Skilled extermination by a licensed pest handle company with an experience in bed bug elimination is the most effective way to exterminate bed bugs. The EPA, on the Bed Bug Details Page posted on its web site, states, “Finding a pest management experienced (PMP) involved as soon as achievable rather than taking time to try to treat the challenge your self is really productive at preventing further infestations.”

Speedy action is vital in battling bed bug infestations. Bed bugs reproduce at an alarming price and infestations can grow quickly. In the course of its 6- to 12-month lifespan, a female bed bug can lay 500 eggs with offspring capable of reproducing within a month. It is frequent to see 3 or more bed bug generations present in an established infestation. Prompt treatment in the earliest stages of infestation can limit the infestation and prevents it from spreading.

To effectively treat bedbug infestations, licensed pest handle specialists employ a mixture of environmental management procedures, referred to as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and a range of pest control materials approved by the EPA for residential use only by licensed pest management pros. Productive bedbug extermination starts with meticulous pre-remedy preparation to remove clutter, clothes, bed linens and other products that may let bedbugs to escape exposure to pest manage components. When site preparation is complete, a mixture of pest control materials is employed to attack bedbugs on various levels.

Issues about overall health and security challenges that have arisen from misuse of pest control chemical compounds by unlicensed or improperly educated pest controllers and unqualified contractors trying to cash in on public worry prompted the EPA to warn consumers to keep away from insect extermination services made with “unrealistic promises of effectiveness or low cost.”

Last July, a Newark, New Jersey pest handle business was accused of illegal application of chemical substances not approved for residential use. Though offering bed bug treatment options to 70 residences and apartments units, technicians sprayed strong chemicals on mattresses and children’s toys. In Cincinnati, Ohio final 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 well being authorities to quarantine the house.