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Bedbugs Taking A Bite Out of New Yorkers

Author: James M. Taylor
Published by: The Heartland Institute
Published in: Environment News
Publication date: March 2008

New York City is feeling the biting effects of anti-chemical laws as a bedbug epidemic has infested every part of the city.

The city received 7,000 bedbug infestation complaints in 2007, more than 10 times the number recorded as recently as 2004. City Council Member Gale Brewer (D-Upper West Side) is taking the unprecedented step of sponsoring a bill to create a bedbug task force.

All Income Groups Victimized

"We have three education forums planned where people can hear presentations from different city agencies about how to avoid getting bedbugs and how to deal with them once you get them," Brewer said.

Brewer expressed special concern about unsuspecting city residents acquiring bedbugs when purchasing reconditioned mattresses. Her bill would ban the sale of reconditioned mattresses in the city. She is facing opposition from many quarters, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I).

"Banning the sale of reconditioned mattresses is a minimally effective Band-Aid approach to battling bedbugs, and it would harm lower-income families," said Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis. "Such a ban would not even be considered if government had not banned the sale of so many safe and effective pesticides."

"But it's not just mattresses," Brewer said. "People of all income groups have been victimized, and it happens to even the most meticulous of home keepers. People even pick them up from such seemingly innocent sources as used books."

DDT Ban Allowed Resurgence

The bloodsucking pests were all but eradicated shortly after World War II, but bans on DDT and other effective pesticides have enabled bedbug numbers to increase dramatically nationwide. Bedbugs are now "becoming the pest of the twenty-first century," pest control experts warn, according to the Associated Press.

The epidemic is out of control across New York City. People are bringing home bedbugs they unknowingly picked up in taxis, movie theaters, five-star hotels, and even while giving birth in maternity wards.

"It's becoming an epidemic," Jeffery Eisenberg, owner of Pest Away Exterminating on the Upper West Side, told The New York Times for a November 27 report. "People are being tortured, and so am I. I spend half my day talking to hysterical people about bedbugs."

Repeated, Expensive Treatments

"We have a lot of experienced pesticide folks, and I would go with what they are proposing," Brewer recommended. "However, it usually requires multiple pesticide treatments, as well as the repeated treatment of clothes and furniture. It is a very expensive issue to deal with and can cost people thousands of dollars. People often can't afford this."

Because conventional pesticides are frequently not powerful enough to kill bedbugs, victims describe living nightmares trying to get rid of them. It costs roughly $2,000 to have a professional pesticide company treat a typical home, but even then the bedbugs are likely to remain.

The bugs hide by day in places such as picture frames, stereo speakers, bed boards, and wall interiors. At night, they emerge from their hiding places and gorge upon the flesh of sleeping humans, dogs, and cats.

Frustration Reaches Internet

Jackson Heights resident Caitlin Heller set up a Web site documenting her recurring bedbug infestation. Heller has had her apartment treated by professional exterminators repeatedly, bagged and hermetically sealed her clothes and bedding, and caulked all the cracks along her plasterboard walls.

Even so, the bugs return, leaving telltale blood stains and insect feces on her bed sheets.

"I can't believe I have to go through all this [trouble] AGAIN," wrote an exasperated Heller in a recent blog entry. "We bought large heavy-duty trash bags to put our clothes and linens into. ... We'll be pulling the furniture out away from the walls before we go to sleep tonight and vacuuming all the floors, removing the vacuum bag into another sealed bag and going directly into the trash compactor."

Laws Let Bugs Loose

Angela Logomasini, director of risk and environmental policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, reports insect infestations have become more difficult to treat as pesticides are targeted by environmental activist groups and subsequently banned by federal and state governments.

"For fighting bedbugs, it would be immensely helpful to have DDT as a potential option," Logomasini said. "The national bedbug epidemic is very bad and getting worse.

"It's not just DDT," Logomasini added. "They have been getting rid of effective chemicals for decades, which leaves fewer and fewer options to fight bedbugs and other insect pests. The more options you take away, the more difficult it is to keep insect infestations under control or from happening in the first place."

James M. Taylor (taylor@heartland.org) is managing editor of Environment & Climate News.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. homeowners preparing for the spring and summer termite season have a new tool to help protect their most valuable asset – their home – from the estimated $5 billion in damage annually caused by termites in the U.S., according to the National Pest Management Association.

Whitmire Micro-Gen, a leading manufacturer of products for professional pest management including termites, has developed the Advance Termite Bait System (ATBS), an environmentally friendly alternative to liquid treatments. ATBS has a patented system design that offers performance advantages over the novel “first generation” baiting systems that have transformed termite control for many homeowners in the past 10 years. ATBS is offered through many licensed pest management companies across the country. More information for consumers can be found at www.advancetermitecontrol.com.

ATBS dual-stage stations are placed in the ground around the perimeter of the home. Appearing similar to a sprinkler head, the stations are buried inconspicuously at soil level with child/pet tamper resistant caps that are opened only by a pest management professional who monitors the stations on a regular basis. If the technician finds termite activity, the upper stage feeding cartridge is replaced with a bait cartridge with a preferred cellulose matrix called Puri-Cell™, which provides a large dose of killing power against termite colonies. As termites feed and travel back to the colony, they share the bait with others and send more termites back to the bait to feed. As feeding continues and more termites consume the bait, the termite colony starts to die and is eliminated. “Termites take to the bait quicker, stay in the station longer, and feed more aggressively than with other products thanks to the patented station design and specialized bait matrix,” says Whitmire Micro-Gen’s Product Manager Jeff Vannoy.

“That explains why so many pest control companies are now offering ATBS to their customers – they can offer the product knowing that it is highly effective.” ATBS is an improvement over other baits on the market because it provides faster hits and colony elimination than some competitive products. Once the stations have a “hit” from termites, a bait cartridge containing an insect growth regulator is placed into the station. The termite colony is eliminated after the naturally occurring molting process is short circuited by the Advance bait.

Termites, which can be in a home for several years with few signs of activity, enter by following tree roots and construction conduits such as pipes and vents. They live in underground colonies and aggressively seek out their food source – cellulose – which is found mostly in wood. “When termites infest buildings, they damage lumber, wood panels, flooring, sheetrock, wallpaper, plastics, paper products, and fabric made of plant fibers,” explains Cindy Mannes, Vice President of Public Affairs for the National Pest Management Association. “The most serious damage is the loss of structural strength. Other costly losses include attacks on flooring, carpeting, art work, books, clothing, furniture, and valuable papers. Hiring a professional to assess your unique situation is critical for controlling termites in your home.”

Most pest management companies offer both bait and liquid treatments. Liquid treatments, however, have inherent challenges including drilling of the home’s foundation, working/treating inside the home, digging trenches around the foundation, and saturating the soil with hundreds of gallons of liquid chemicals when treating the property. ATBS is far less intrusive to homeowners. It is serviced by technicians outside the home, and homeowners need not be at home or let anyone into their home when servicing occurs. No landscaping damage occurs and no unsightly trenches disrupt the aesthetics of the yard. ATBS provides ongoing peace of mind thanks to the routine inspections of the system conducted by the homeowner’s Pest management professional. ATBS is a high quality, long-term solution for homeowners seeking to eliminate the termite colony attacking their home.

Baits are becoming so popular, Whitmire Micro-Gen’s Vannoy explains, that about 35 percent of homeowners who purchased termite protection in 2007 chose a bait system. ATBS is the product of choice for Kristin and Glenn Shaw of Smyrna, Ga. The couple chose ATBS after being presented with several termite prevention options by their pest control company, Atlanta-based Bug Busters USA. “We had heard of Sentricon, but ATBS was just more appealing in the end,” Kristin Shaw explains. “The stations sit at ground level and I never really see them. And the fact that my kids can’t get into the stations made me feel better.” The system has worked for the Shaws. The first routine inspection revealed some modest termite activity, so Bug Busters USA replaced the feeding cartridge with bait, and the termites were eliminated by the next inspection. “ATBS is well worth the investment and the peace of mind,” she adds.

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Liberty, N.Y., December 7, 2005 – Pestech, a regional pest control company that provides service to commercial and residential customers, has recently responded to several requests for assistance with bedbug control. A rise in reported bedbug cases has recently hit the New York metropolitan area.

Bedbugs are flat bugs that measure 5-7mm in length. They live in cracks and crevices of beds including bed frames and springs. Bed bugs only come out at night to feed on people's blood with a painless bite. The only way to know about a bite is when you see the red, itchy welts on your skin in the morning. Pestech President and CEO Bruce Davidson commented, “A recent increase in travel is the cause for this unusual spike in bedbug cases. Homeowners are staying in hotels with bedbugs hitching a ride home in their suitcases.” He added, “In 2002 and 2003 combined, Pestech treated only two bed bug cases. In 2004, we responded to eight complaints. This year, we have handled over twenty bed bug cases in the Hudson Valley, with many of the calls coming from private homeowners.”

Here are some useful tips regarding bedbugs:
• When traveling, inspect the bed by pulling the covers back and looking in seams or crevices in the mattress. If you spot bedbugs, ask for another room or a reservation at another hotel.
• Thoroughly inspect or possibly vacuum your luggage before bringing it back into your home.
• Take preventative measures. Keep your living areas neat. Bedbugs thrive in environments in disarray. In addition, they hide in old furniture and behind peeling paint.
• Treatment of bedbugs requires special insecticides and procedures. Contact your local professional pest control specialist.

Pestech, based in Liberty, New York, is a leading pest control company that provides service to the Hudson Valley and Catskill region. The company uses state-of-the-art pest management technology, sound evaluation and proven problem solving for all insect control and pest management problems. For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Josh Sommers at 845-796-3342 or josh@advertisingandpr.com. Additional information regarding bedbugs can be found at Pestech University.

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