Bed Bugs – ThermaPure

Bed bugs reach epidemic proportions. Dr. Michael Potter, University of Kentucky entomologist, was quoted recently as saying, Bed bugs are just going ballistic everywhere. It is going to really rock this country. Bed bugs are found today in hotels, apartments, dorm rooms, delivery vehicles, dry cleaners, jails, hospitals, churches, cruise ships, furniture rental stores and private homes. Rare for a time, bed bug bites are becoming all too common. Because pesticides are losing their effectiveness at treating bed bugs, the search is on for new ways to eliminate infestations. ThermaPureHeat kills bed bugs without harming the environment; using heat to kill bed bugs and the eggs they leave behind. And, since ThermaPureHeat can be effective in a single bed bug treatment, it can be more cost effective than chemical alternatives which can often require replacement of bedding and even mattresses.

Bed bugs were widespread before World War II in homes, hotels, and boardinghouses, but were greatly reduced with the use of the pesticide DDT. Bed bugs have been making resurgence in recent years due to the banning of DDT, an increase in international travel, and a developing resistance to pesticides.

Bed bugs commonly reside in the seams of mattresses, in the edges of carpeting, in the bed frame behind baseboards, in window and door casings, picture frames, loosened wallpaper, and other cracks and crevices.

Bed bugs can enter a structure by attaching themselves or their eggs to clothing and bedding and by hiding in luggage. They have often been brought into homes in used furniture and mattresses. In certain cases the pests may be brought in by birds or even bats.

Bed bug bites are not always noticed by their victims. This is often the problem with knowing whether an infestation still exists or if it has been successfully treated. Some people are greatly affected by bed bug bites and may exhibit numerous sores, welts and allergic reactions to the bed bug bite. Others may not exhibit symptoms at all. Although no known cases of the transmission of infectious disease have been reported, bed bugs are known to carry at least 28 different human pathogens. It appears the bed bug may be able to transmit Hepatitis B, as the virus has been found in bed bug droppings. Bacterial infections may also occur if the bite creates an open sore.

There is considerable documentation citing the temperature and time correlations necessary to kill bedbugs and their eggs. Several sources (Usinger 1966, Gulmahamad 2002, Quarles 2007) report that adults and nymphs die within 15 minutes at temperatures greater than 113F and 60 minutes to kill eggs. Raising room temperatures above the thermal death point and maintaining that temperature for several hours normally eliminates a bed bug infestation.

The temperature required to kill bedbugs and their eggs fall well within the temperature ranges achieved by ThermaPureHeat. The low thermal death point of bedbugs allows ThermaPureHeat technicians to better adapt the process to the building and its contents while still achieving efficacy. Unlike many pesticides, ThermaPureHeat will penetrate into all of the cracks and crevices and kill bed bugs where they reside. Our process will force heat into beds, bedding, mattresses, furniture, electronics, wall cavities, etc. leaving no place for bed bugs to hide. This is important because adult bed bugs have been shown to live up to a year on a single blood meal, and may simply go to a small, dark space away from mattresses to live and reproduce.

Historically, bed bug treatments have relied on the use of chemicals to reduce and control the pest. Recently, pesticides have shown to be ineffective in managing infestations with single bed bug treatment. An informal survey of pest control operators conducted by an entomologist at the University of Massachusetts found that 68% of all bedbug infestations require three or more treatments, 26% require two treatments, and just 6% require one treatment.

Another concern with pesticide use is the growing evidence that bed bugs are developing resistance to current pesticides used in the treatments. This follows the same trend found many years ago when DDT was the accepted treatment. The Integrated Pest Management Association found that by 1956, DDT resistance was so widespread that the control method had to be changed to Malathion.

Results from current research conducted by the University of Kentucky show that bed bug resistance to insecticidal products that have pyrethroids as an active ingredient has become significant. The excessive use of pesticide solutions may result in the bed bug developing greater resistance to current methodologies. Oftentimes this leads to overcompensating by increasing amounts of chemicals. This can be a dangerous practice. ThermaPureHeat is a simpler control methodology which alters a bed bugs natural environment, making it lethal to the bed bug.

Pesticides can also pose a threat to the environment. DDT was an effective chemical in significantly treating bed bug occurrences in the United States before it was banned in 1972 because of the reproductive effects to birds from chronic exposure to DDT. Bird exposure to this insecticide mainly occurs through the consumption of aquatic and/or terrestrial species that have been exposed to DDT (WHO 1989). Like other chemicals, DDT was able to work its way through the ecosystem and cause adverse health and reproductive effects to many animals in the food chain.

Finally, some people may be sensitive to chemicals as a result of neurological or other medical disorders. These people may not have the option to use safely chemical solutions as part of their control method. ThermaPureHeat is a non-chemical process and therefore is the practical solution for people with chemical sensitivities. It is ideal for treating health care facilities, hospitals, and schools where chemicals are not an option.

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Bed Bugs - ThermaPure