Study finds bed bug pesticides making some people sick

 

Heat treatment is an environmentally friendly method for eradicating bed bugs and does not utilize any pesticides or chemicals. (Stephanie S. Cordle/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT)

David Beasley Reuters

4:17 p.m. CDT, September 22, 2011

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Bed bugs might make you itch, but the chemicals used to combat the pests are making some people ill.

As more people in the United States are feeling the bed bug's bite, there has been a spike in sickness from pesticides used to kill the insects, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday.

From 2003 to 2010, 111 people were sickened and one died from bed bug insecticide, the government agency reported in a study that is the first of its kind in the country.

Nearly three quarters of the illnesses occurred from 2008 to 2010 as the bed bug population in the United States increased.

Pesticide-related illnesses occurred in seven states: California, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Texas and Washington. Some 81 percent of cases were not severe.

Densely populated New York City, where there were increasing reports of bed bug infestations, had the largest number of cases at 58 percent. Nationwide, 93 percent of the cases were in private homes, the study found.

Although the CDC said there have not been enough cases of serious illness to suggest a large public health burden, the numbers might continue to increase as bed bugs become more resistant to common pesticides.

Bed bugs are wingless, reddish-brown insects that suck blood from humans and other mammals and birds. They do not carry disease but, according to the CDC, "can reduce quality of life by causing anxiety, discomfort and sleeplessness."

Illness can result from misusing pesticides to kill the bugs, the CDC said. Two of the most common causes of illness were excessive insecticide application and failing to wash or change pesticide-treated bedding.

Common symptoms included headaches, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, the CDC said.

The lone fatality was in North Carolina in 2010, and the 65-year-old victim had a long list of health problems including diabetes and renal failure, the CDC said.

Her husband applied pesticides in the home that were not registered for use on bed bugs. The woman also applied a bed bug and flea insecticide to her arms, sores on her chest, and on her hair.

In an Ohio case that resulted in illness, an uncertified pesticide applicator sprayed malathion, which was not registered for indoor use, in an apartment five times over three days.

The CDC recommends using both nonchemical and chemical approaches to fight bed bugs, including hiring an expert to heat infested rooms to 118 degrees Fahrenheit or cool them to 3 degrees for an hour to kill the bugs.

The agency also advises against buying used mattresses and box springs and urges anyone with a bed bug problem to hire only certified insecticide applicators.

"Insecticide labels that are easy to read and understand also can help prevent illnesses associated with bed bug control," the agency said.

SOURCE: http://1.usa.gov/qnD8UC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, online September 22, 2011.

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Pest controllers need tobe careful with the application of pesticides and rooms shouldn't be used for a period after treatment.

 

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Insect Control Around Livestock

Insect control proves essential in livestock production

Fly season is in full swing, and a Purdue Extension entomologist says insect control is essential as these pests can lead to disease and decreased growth rates in livestock.
Insects can be problematic in both pasture and confinement settings, said Ralph Williams. Cattle and poultry are especially vulnerable.
"Sometimes we forget that when we are irritated by mosquitoes, we can go inside," he said. "Livestock are out there all the time, so insect pests are more than just a nuisance."
Pastured cattle fight face flies, which can transmit pink eye, and horn flies, a biting fly that results in reduced weight gain and feed efficiency - and ultimately economic loss.
Within confinement operations, stable flies are a source of a direct irritation to cattle and also can cause financial loss.
"In confinement, it's important to reduce breeding sites for flies by focusing on manure removal and waste management," Williams said. "In pasture situations, insecticide ear tags provide one of the best methods of fly control. Ear tags contain various chemical compounds and are typically hung in both of the animal's ears throughout the fly season."
According to Williams, the pyrethroid tags are the best solution for face flies, but horn flies are resistant to its effects. A recent product, abamectin, and Warrior, a formulation with two organophosphate-based insecticides, are effective for both species.
With the wet spring, other insects that thrive in excess water, such as biting midges and mosquitos, could also be problematic this year. Midges can spread Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease in ruminants, and mosquitoes carry diseases for multiple animal species.
Large animals are not the only species affected by insect pests. Poultry confinement operations battle flies year-round as house flies breed in fresh accumulated waste.
"In addition to being an issue for the farmer, house flies can also become a nuisance pest for operations in non-farming communities," Williams said. "To keep in line with regulations, poultry producers really have to keep on top of pest control."
For all species, Williams said that facility sanitation is the first step to controlling flies and other insects.

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Rat Poisons... Use Rodent Boxes to avoid their argument!

Backyard debate : To bait or not to bait

Environmental Protection Agency considers a ban on consumer sales of certain types of rat poison, an issue with all-too-much resonance in Baltimore

9:01 a.m. EDT, June 11, 2011

There is a rat fight going on between the Environmental Protection Agency and some pest control manufacturers that could affect Maryland backyards. At issue is whether residents will continue to be able to kill rats with certain potent poisons, which can now be purchased at hardware stores and are strong enough to dispatch the rodents after they make one visit to a poisoned meal. The EPA said this week it wanted to prohibit residential consumers from administering these poisons, making the stronger stuff available only to farmers and professional exterminators. At least two affected companies are challenging the decision.
The EPA plan would allow home owners to administer substitutes, less toxic poisons the kind that require the rodents to feed several times before expiring.
Another issue is how these doses are served up. Now some of the one-and-done poisons are pellets, sometimes served in trays or in packages that the vermin chew through. The EPA would ban pellets, which its says pose the danger of small children and household pets nibbling on them, and require all rat poisons to served in blocks secured in so-called "bait stations." These are plastic enclosures with latched and sometimes locking lids.
Two manufacturers, Liphatech Inc and Reckitt Benckiser, have challenged the EPA, saying these prohibitions are unnecessary and will make rat control needlessly expensive. The matter will now likely go to an administrative body, composed of scientists, who will make a ruling. This could take two years. In the meantime the companies will continue to sell their products. There is, in other words, no need to hoard rat poison.

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To bolster its case for the ban, the EPA says children are particularly at risk from rat poisons and cites statistics saying that nationally poison control centers receive between 12,000 and 15,000 reports of children under six being exposed to them. However the Maryland Poison Control Center reports that such instances are usually minor in nature without long-term health consequences to the child. Even though the chances are slight that children could seriously harm themselves by ingesting these poisons, it seems wise to make sure they are delivered in tamper-proof containers such as the bait stations. Already types of these devices are sold in Baltimore hardware stores for $16 to $18. Chunks of poison are secured on spikes inside a box. The bait stations aren't pretty, and they announce to the world that you are having a rat problem, but they do the job.
Requiring that rat poisons are administered in some type of closed, tamper-proof containers makes sense. But insisting that poisons now available to consumers can be used only by professional exterminators seems to be overreaching.
Experts on all sides of this issue agree that poisoning is only one of several tools that need to be employed in the battle against rat infestation. Equally important are removing the sources of food, such as garbage cans without lids, and eliminating rat-friendly habitats such as tall grasses and weeds. Some of the best brains at Johns Hopkins — an institution with a long and distinguished line of rodent researchers — concluded some time ago that rat populations cannot be controlled simply by poisoning. One study found that when poisoning reduced one neighborhood's rat population by half, the surviving rats increased their birth rate to make up for the lost numbers.
Rats are not welcome companions, but they are resilient. Keeping them at bay requires good sanitation and housekeeping practices and prudent use of poisons administered in closed, tamper-proof containers.
—Rob Kasper

Copyright © 2011, The Baltimore Sun

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