Continuing from Monday…
DDT was used for other types of annoying household pests such as cockroaches as well. The residual effect of DDT helped keep many types of pest populations down. It was not uncommon to find DDT in grocery stores, drug stores, and hardware stores. This common pesticide kept bed bug populations so low that they were nearly non-existent in the United States until DDT was banned in 1972.
Slowly but surely, bed bugs have made their comeback into American households over the past few years. Industry experts blame the resurgence on a variety of factors…the banning of DDT, the ease of global travel, the lack of sufficient education about the bloodsuckers, the lack of effective pesticides, and the fact that bed bugs have now become resistant to many insecticides that are available. There is no concrete evidence as to why bed bug numbers have exploded, just speculation among researchers.
The forecast for combating bed bugs fully in the near future is somewhat bleak. The Environmental Protection Agency has not released any existing pesticides to aid in killing bed bugs, despite the pleas of lawmakers, pest control providers, and consumers alike. Additionally, new pesticides take about ten years to come to fruition by the time they are developed, tested and approved for use.
New Jersey pest control experts predict that bed bug infestations will continue their upward climb in homes, hotels, theaters, trains, airplanes, schools, hospitals, restaurants, and retail stores, etc. It is not recommended that you try to fight bed bug infestations on your own as over-the-counter products have proven to be ineffective. You should instead call a licensed pest control expert like Allison Pest Control which uses the most up-to-date techniques and products and has experience in bed bug removal services.