Don’t Risk Your Health on Do-It-Yourself Bed Bug Treatments

Attempts to self-treat bed bug infestations could place your family’s health at risk, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns. After one death and 129 health problems linked to home use of bed bug pesticides were reported between 2006 and 2010, the federal agency issued a national health advisory “alerting the public to an emerging national concern regarding misuse of pesticides to treat infestations of bed bugs and other insects indoors.”

Used as directed, the indoor bug bombs and pesticides sold in home and hardware stores are deemed safe for home use. Serious problems can arise, however, when these products are overused or misused, as is often the case when people take a do-it-yourself approach to bed bug extermination. Bed bugs are particularly hard to kill. They have a tough exoskeleton, hide in hard-to-reach places and are impervious to insecticides available to the public.

When one bug bomb fails to kill bed bugs, people tend to think that 5 or 10 or more might do the trick. In overdosing the problem, they expose themselves and their families and pets to potentially harmful levels of toxic chemicals. Recent research has discovered links between behavioral problems, hormone disruption and reproductive difficulties and over-exposure to improperly applied bed bug pesticides. Not only have incidents of pesticide misuse caused serious illness during efforts to self-treat bed bug infestations; but in several cases, residents have actually set their homes on fire.

Bed bugs may be classified as a nuisance pest but their emotional impact can cause people to panic. Extermination of these pests requires methodical preparation and precise treatment protocols conducted by highly trained and knowledgeable professionals with specialized experience in bed bug extermination. If you think you have bed bugs, call Allison Pest Control today for your free bed bug inspection.