Part 1: Bed Bugs Abatement a Growing Challenge for Landlords, Cities, Insurers

By Denise Johnson | June 15, 2011

  • June 15, 2011 at 3:05 pm
    Fran says:
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    Sometimes even if the landlord does their best, dangerous conditions can arise. Check out this scary story. http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2011/02/newark_pest_control_company_fi.html
    How does the cobsumer know if they’re safe.If you don’t want bed bugs you have to be proactive. I make sure that when I travel, which is the number one way to infest your home or someone else’s, that I examine the room completely, use an allersac, put my luggage in garbage bags and my clothing also. My daughter’s apartment was infested after she got home from a vacation in Los Vegas. It cost her over $2000 to get rid of them and her landlord wanted to kick her out.

  • June 15, 2011 at 10:09 pm
    sam bryks says:
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    The pressure to bring back propoxur is to put children at risk. The reason that the product was banned was because of the potential risk to small children and others. Other products in this group have also been removed. Many people do not realize that in the 30’s when bed bugs were found in almost all homes in slums in the UK, a concerted effort through the Public Health Act had reduced bed bug problems very dramatically BEFORE DDT was used. Insects have the capacity to develop resistance to most modern products and common pest roaches such as the German cockroach developed resistance to most products. Bed bugs are far more resistant to some of the pesticides than even roaches, and there is no assurance that bringing back propoxur will solve the problem, but it will guarantee heavy application of the product.
    In this day of amazing technology, it is amazing that some basic common sense approaches to prevention and ensuring high standards of treatment and support of the vulnerable are slow to come in the battle against bed bugs. It takes an approach called Integrated Pest Management to solve the problem, and this has been demonstrated to be very effective and without excessive pesticide usage. What is needed is better education of local municipal and public health agencies, as well as education of key property management and maintenance staff so they can work with pest management professionals, not this idea of an “easy” fix with bringing back a product as if that one product is the answer. That is likely a fantasy. We can get rid of bed bugs with good old fashioned common sense and excellence in delivering integrated pest management programs. Safer, longer lasting and healthier for all.. and especially for children in low income housing..
    they deserve this.
    Sam Bryks, M.Sc. Board Certified Entomologist
    Toronto , Canada

  • July 20, 2011 at 1:02 pm
    GG says:
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    There are better alternatives to the banned pesticide. Do a Google search for Roach-Pruf by Copper Brite. It works on more than roaches (fleas, mites, silverfish, etc). It creates microscopic cuts in the shell of their body & they dehydrate. They walk thru the powder & it sticks to their legs/body so they carry it back to where they live so they can share it with the others. I used it when I lived in an apartment to treat bugs traveling from the neighboring unit.
    Keep in mind that it is not instantaneous, but it works and the effects are long lasting. And no worries about resistance/immunity!

    Another product with similar properties to a borate mineral compound is available by DustMite by Ecology Works which can be used as a powder, spray & in laundry machines. Other suggestions are Allersearch ADS spray. Google search dust mite sprays & check out what is out there before turning to chemical pesticides.



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