COLUMBUS, Ohio (TOLEDO NEWS NOW) - Ohio State University entomologists have found that over-the-counter foggers or "bug bombs" commonly used by consumers are not effective at killing bedbug, the media relations department of the university reports.
These results provide the first scientific evidence that such products should not be recommended for control of bed bugs.
The study appears in the June 2012 issue of the Journal of Economic Entomology, a peer-reviewed publication of the Entomological Society of America.
"There has always been this perception and feedback from the pest-management industry that over-the-counter foggers are not effective against bedbugs and might make matters worse," said Susan Jones, an urban entomologist with the university's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and a household and structural pest specialist with Ohio State University Extension. "But up until, now there has been no published data regarding the efficacy of foggers against bedbugs."
Bedbug (Cimex lectularius) numbers have increased in the past decade as much as 500 percent, the university reports. Reasons behind this spike include a boom in international travel and commerce; a shift from powerful but dangerous insecticides, such as DDT, to more selective control tactics; the public's lack of awareness about these insects and how easily they spread; and the development of resistance among bedbug populations to currently used pesticides, especially pyrethroids.
