Category Archives: Bed Bugs World

The debate over whether bed bug extermination treatments could pose a fire hazard is raging on in the tri-state area after several fires across the U.S. and Canada were determined to be caused by bed bug exterminations gone wrong.

In the summer of 2011, a 50-unit condominium in Edmonton, Canada fire burned when exterminators used a pest control treatment known as radiant heat, according to investigators there. It promises to eradicate bed bugs using industrial space heaters and fans to bring every square inch of an infested room above 120 degrees. Exterminators say more than an hour and a half of exposure to such high temperaturesensures a 100 percent bed bug kill rate.

The problem is, warming confined spaces with powerful heaters carries serious fire hazards, according to some experts.

The worst that can happen is you can burn your house down, and youre risking your life, said Glenn Waldorf of Bell Environmental Services in Fairfield, N.J.

After the Edmonton condominium building burned, Canadian fire investigators issued a $10,000 fine to Calgary-based pest control company Bed Bug Task Force. The exterminators were found to have used propane heaters against fire code. The owners of the apartment building are now suing Bed Bug Task Force for $3.5 million in damages.

Bed Bug Task Force did not return the I-Teams email seeking comment.

Radiant heat treatments have led to other disastrous fires closer to New York City. Last month in Woodbury, N.J., fire officials said a man accidentally set his house on fire while attempting to kill bed bugs with a do-it-yourself radiant heat treatment. In October of 2012, fire investigators in New Hampshire said a three-family home burned down during a heat treatment. Last Valentines Day, firefighters in Dayton, Ohio, responded to a second-floor fire and found a pest control company was using heaters and fans to kill bed bugs.

Consumers are panicked. You have bugs in your home. Youve got these little vampires in your bed biting you, and they imagine companies have solutions and dont think through what the issues are with any of the various solutions out there, said Waldorf.

Waldorf said that using cryogenic freeze technology is much safer than using heat to kill bed bugs. But while some pest control outfits warn against thermal treatments, others stand by radiant heat as the gold standard in bed bug extermination.

Robert Suriano, president of Bliss Pest Protection Services in New York City, recently invested tens of thousands of dollars in heaters and fans intended for bed bug eradication. He said the recent fires prove only that homeowners should trust trained professionals and avoid low-cost, do-it-yourself heat treatments.

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I-Team: Bed Bug Treatments Leave Homes in Flames

Material scientists at Stony Brook University have developed a web made up of extremely thin microfibres which can ensnare bed bugs and stop their nocturnal feasts on human blood.

The microfibres used are 50 times thinner than a human hair and are effective at entangling bed bugs and other insects. The technology is being commercialised by a company called Fibertrap which promotes non-toxic pest control methods.

The material was developed by researchers at Stony Brook's Centre for Advanced Technology in Sensor Materials. The nanotechnology results in entanglements that are millions of times more dense than woven products such as fabrics or carpets, according to lead researcher Miriam Rafailovich. The microfibres trap the bed bugs by attaching microfibres to their legs, preventing them from moving and therefore feeding and reproducing. The material is created using electrospinning, where an electrical charge is used to draw a very fine fibre out of a liquid.

The lab has tested the material with live bed bugs and termites. The microfibres are safe for humans and pets and don't rely on any pesticides or chemicals, which insects can grow resistant to.

Bed bugs are small, disc-shaped parasitic insects that feed on the blood of people and animals when they sleep. They are remarkably hardy and can survive a wide range of temperatures and atmospheric compositions. They can survive for five days at -10C but will die after 15 minutes at -26C. Meanwhle, at the other end of the temperature spectrum, they can survive temperatures of 45C, but will die at heats above 46C.

The bugs tend to hide during the day and emerge in the night, sometimes travelling up to 30 metres. The bites affect different people in different ways -- from creating tiny red dots to enormous welts.

Bed bugs have been proliferating in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia in the last few decades. In London alone, between 2000 and 2006, the number of pest control calls relating to bed bugs increased by an average of 28.5 percent per year. This is down to the creatures becoming resistant to pesticides and the increase in international travel.

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Microfibre mesh creates bed bug booby trap

On Contact Solutions (http://www.oncontactsolutions.com), a supplier of scientifically-based green products to the hotel industry, is pleased to announce that it now offers Cimi-Shield, a revolutionary soybean extract spray that is non-toxic and prevents Bed Bug infestations for one year.

Miami, FL (PRWEB) February 27, 2013

In 2006, the Bed Bug Registry, a free, public database of user-submitted bed bug reports from across the United States and Canada, was founded (http://www.bedbugregistry.com/). Today, the Registry has collected 20,000 reports from 12,000 locations and states, "Until a reliable, safe pesticide becomes available, avoiding bed bug encounters will be the only reliable way to ensure they don't spread into your own home." Besides the horror of thousand of little bugs nibbling at you while you sleep, Bed Bugs have recently been found to carry MRSA, a drug-resistant bacterium that can lead to life-threatening infections (http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/17/6/10-1978_article.htm).

Unfortunately, Bed Bug encounters are becoming harder and harder to avoid because traditional extermination methods only attack the problem after the bugs are reported by guests or hotel staff. In response, toxic chemicals are applied that kill the living bed bugs, leaving an untold number of eggs ready to hatch and reinfect the room in the future. Fortunately, a reliable and safe solution that prevents Bed Bug infestations by not only killing living bugs, but by killing the eggs that hatch for a year after treatment, has finally become available.

Called Cimi-Shield (or VA88), this non-toxic polypeptide protein molecule is derived from soybean oil. Because its ingredients, both active and inert, are demonstrably safe for its intended use, it is EPA 25b exempt, which means it is not subject to federal pesticide requirements. Cimi-Shield kills Bed Bugs by removing their outer waxy layer, causing them to dehydrate and die. Jeff Tomback, president of On Contact Solutions, says, "Now, hotels have the opportunity to prevent Bed Bug infestations before they start, ensuring guests that they will have a good night's sleep in a clean and safe room." As long as a hotel treats its rooms once a year, it will not have to worry about infestations, and guests won't have to perform a long list of preventive measures when they check into their rooms or worry about bringing Bed Bugs home with them."

Jeffrey Tomback On Contact Solutions 415-269-1903 Email Information

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On Contact Solutions Promises Hotels Bed Bug Prevention with Unique Long-Lasting Green Solution

ATLANTA, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Atlanta-based pest control leader Orkin reminds holiday travelers to look out for bed bugs because they can be a threat to you and your home, whether you are staying at a five-star hotel, visiting relatives or have friends and family visiting you. According to AAA, 43.6 million Americans are planning to take to the roads, skies and railways between Nov. 21 and Nov. 25. The Federal Aviation Administration lists the nation's 35 busiest airports, and 30 of those cities can be found on Orkin's top 50 bed bug cities list.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120315/CL71466 )

"Bed bugs are great hitchhikers, so you have to pay close attention when traveling," said Orkin Entomologist and Technical Services Director Ron Harrison, Ph.D. "Bed bugs can find their way into your luggage, whether it is in a hotel, on a plane, train or bus and eventually make their way back to your home. If you brought home just one bed bug, it could reproduce and get out of hand in just a few weeks."

One female bed bug can lay one to two eggs a day and up to 200 eggs in her lifetime. Routine inspections will lead to early identification, which is important to help lower the risk of a severe problem and the need for extensive pest control treatments. Typically, bed bugs come out at night to feed, but during the day, they are most likely found within a 5-foot radius of where people sleep.

Research from the University of Minnesota has also suggested bed bugs are attracted to dirty clothes, so keep them in a sealed bag or container.

"It appears that body odor is one cue for bed bugs that there could be a food source nearby," said Harrison. "It may be an evolutionary trait that leads them to your dirty laundry, which makes sense, so do everything you possibly can to ensure you do not attract bed bugs."

When traveling, Orkin suggests using the acronym S.L.E.E.P. to avoid taking bed bugs home with you.

"It is best to contact a licensed pest control professional if you think you have bed bugs," said Harrison. "You do not want to try and combat these pests yourself. Professionals can identify infestations using a variety of techniques like visual inspections, monitors, trained bed bug-sniffing dogs and DNA testing, in which common areas bed bugs are found can be swabbed and tested to confirm if bed bugs are present."

About Orkin, LLCFounded in 1901, Atlanta-based Orkin is an industry leader in essential pest control services and protection against termite damage, rodents and insects in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, Central America, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Asia, the Mediterranean and Africa. With more than 400 locations,

Orkin's almost 8,000 employees serve approximately 1.7 million customers. The company serves homeowners and numerous industries, including food and beverage processing, foodservice, hospitality, healthcare, retail, warehousing, property/facilities management, schools and institutions. Orkin is proud to be recognized by the

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Bed Bugs - The Unwanted Holiday Travel Guest