Daily Archives: June 5, 2012

Ohio State University entomologists have found that over-the-counter foggers or bug bombs commonly used by consumers are not effective at killing bedbugs -- providing the first scientific evidence that such products should not be recommended for control of this increasingly worrisome, bloodsucking pest.

The study appears in the June 2012 issue of the Journal of Economic Entomology, a peer-reviewed publication of the Entomological Society of America.

There has always been this perception and feedback from the pest-management industry that over-the-counter foggers are not effective against bedbugs and might make matters worse, said Susan Jones, an urban entomologist with the universitys Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and a household and structural pest specialist with Ohio State University Extension. But up until, now there has been no published data regarding the efficacy of foggers against bedbugs.

Bedbug (Cimex lectularius) numbers have increased in the past decade as much as 500 percent in North America and other parts of the world. Reasons behind this spike include a boom in international travel and commerce; a shift from powerful but dangerous insecticides, such as DDT, to more selective control tactics; the publics lack of awareness about these insects and how easily they spread; and the development of resistance among bedbug populations to currently used pesticides, especially pyrethroids.

In the study (funded entirely by OARDC and OSU Extension), Jones and research associate Joshua Bryant evaluated three different fogger brands obtained from a nationwide retailer, all of which have pyrethroids as their active ingredient. Only one of the foggers is specifically labeled against bedbugs. The other two are labeled for use against flying and crawling pests in homes, but can be used to treat bedbugs in many states, Jones said.

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Study: Over-the-counter foggers ineffective against bed bugs

If youve ever had bed bugs, youve probably tried everything to get rid of them, including setting off a bug bomb. But a new study shows that these popular consumer products are no match for the blood-sucking pests.

Researchers from theDepartment of Entomology at Ohio State University looked at three brands of bug bombs, also known as foggers, from a nationwide retailer and tested their effectiveness on five different bed bug populations in the lab.

What they found was what pest-control experts had long thought. There has always been this perception and feedback from the pest-management industry that over-the-counter foggers are not effective against bed bugs and might make matters worse, said lead author Susan Jones, an urban entomologist with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, in a statement. But up until now there has been no published data regarding the efficacy of foggers against bed bugs.

(PHOTOS:Bed Bugs: The Beauty Shots)

Jones and her colleagueJoshua Bryant found thatHotshot Bedbug and Flea Fogger, Spectracide Bug Stop Indoor Fogger, and Eliminator Indoor Foggerhad little to no effect on the bed bugs. (Only Hotshot Bedbug is specifically labeled for use against bed bugs.) All three total-release foggers claim kills on contact yet all field-collected bed bugs were unaffected upon re-entry, the authors write. Even five to seven days after contact, the bed bugs remained unharmed.

Since bed bugs spend their time hidden under sheets, mattresses and deep inside carpets, the authors say it is likely they are protected from the foggers mist. These foggers dont penetrate in cracks and crevices where most bed bugs are hiding, so most of them will survive, said Jones in the statement.

Even when the bugs do come into contact with the insecticides, their varying levels of resistance to the insecticide and the foggers poor toxicity leave the crawlers unscathed.If you use these products, you will not get the infestation under control, you will waste your money, and you will delay effective treatment of your infestation, said Jones.

(MORE:With Bed Bugs, the Cure May Be Worse than the Disease)

The majority of foggers contain insecticides pyrethrin and pyrethroid. The authors note that most field-collected bed bugs are now resistant to pyrethroids, fueled largely by the unnecessary introduction of insecticides into the environment by humans, according to the researchers. Such resistance has helped drive the resurgence of bed bugs in recent years.

To figure out if your home is infested with bed bugs, here are the (unpleasant) signsto look for, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

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Bed Bugs vs. Bug Bombs: The Bugs Win