World, Bed Bug Registry Map – Infestation Reports

Bedbug infestations can be maddening. So readily available bug bombs that fill the house with a pesticide fog are understandably tempting. But research shows they're not likely to work.

Writing in the Journal of Economic Entomology, researchers from Ohio State University say they tested three popular bug bomb products on five different populations of bed bugs, collected "in the wild" from homes around Ohio. All three products failed miserably.

A bug bomb is basically an aerosol can that fills a room with insecticides called pyrethrins. They didn't exactly have a stellar reputation before, either. There are anecdotal reports that the products stir up the bugs, causing them to leave their hiding places and potentially scatter to new locations. And as NPR's Jon Hamilton reported last year, many bedbugs are becoming resistant to pyrethrins.

"If [bug bombs] don't work in the first place, that's what people need to know," lead author and entymology professor Susan Jones tells Shots. So she tested three products, including two general-purpose bug bombs, Spectracide Bug Stop Indoor Fogger and Eliminator Indoor Fogger, and one marketed specifically for bedbugs, Hot Shot Bedbug and Flea Fogger. All three are manufactured by Spectrum Brands.

The bombs were detonated while bugs were either exposed in open containers, or hidden under strips of paper or cloth that simulated, in a minimal way, the fabrics, mattresses and pillows in which they normally hide. That should have made the foggers' job easy. "This is like giving them the most favorable conditions in the world" for killing bed bugs, Jones says. But even when the bugs were denied shelter, nearly all of them survived, the tests found.

Charlie Duckworth, who does research and development for Spectrum Brands, says only the Hot Shot product is designed specifically for bedbugs. "That one has data that it does kill bedbugs," he says, citing information the Environmental Protection Agency reviews before approving insecticides.

Duckworth says EPA will soon require products not proved effective on bed bugs to carry a label saying as much. EPA didn't confirm that assertions. But in an email, an agency spokeswoman said that pesticide resistance, available hiding spots, and other factors can make it hard to treat bedbugs successfully. "Foggers and bug bombs should not be used as the only method to attempt to control bed bugs," the EPA website says.

The Federal Trade Commission's website goes even further. "Steer clear of bug bombs or foggers," it warns, citing the scattering effect.

Jones says there are other reasons to avoid the insecticides, which are flammable, can be toxic and, when overused, contribute to increased resistance among the bugs.

"The $10 that you spent on an over-the-counter fogger would be much more effectively spent at a laundromat," Jones says. The heat of a drier can kill bedbugs and their eggs. But she says that's just one of many steps to ridding yourself of a bedbug infestation. Still, she advises leaving the insecticides to the professionals.

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Beset With Bedbugs? Don't Bother With Bug Bombs

(CBS News) Got a bedbug infestation?Many people turn to do-it-yourself "bug bombs" or "foggers" to rid the creepy crawlers from their bedrooms, but a new study shows the products that have been sold for decades might not even work.

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"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 but up until now there has been no published data regarding the efficacy of foggers against bedbugs," said study author Susan Jones, an urban entomologist with the Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, said in a news release. "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."

Ohio State University researchers tested three commercially sold foggers, Hot Shot, Spectracide, and Eliminator for the study, published in the June 3 issue of the Journal of Economic Entomology. After testing the brands on five different groups of live bedbugs for two hours, the scientists saw the foggers had little if any effect on the insects.

Jone said bedbugs hide in cracks and crevices such as under sheets and mattresses, or deep in carpets where foggers won't reach. Bugs that do come in contact with the mist may be resistant to the pesticide and can survive, she said.

The bottom line? You might be wise to leave it to the pros.

"Bed bugs are among the most difficult and expensive urban pests to control. It typically takes a professional to do it right," Jones said. "Also, the ineffective use of these products can lead to further resistance in insects."

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also says to steer clear of bug bombs or foggers, saying they can make the problem worse by scattering bedbugs throughout your home.

Bedbugs feed off blood and survive for months without a meal, according to WebMD. Infestations often occur in hotels, nursing homes, hospitals and cruise ships where lots of people sleep. People can be allergic t o the bites, experiencing itching or in rare cases life-threatening anaphlyaxis.

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Foggers, "bug bombs" are no match for bedbugs, scientists say

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.

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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.

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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