If you get bedbugs, you don't need to telephone a licensed pest control company , however, you'd be foolish not to, would be your take away message from your warning issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) past August. "With the wrong pesticide or using it erroneously to treat bedbugs can make you, your family, and your pets " the EPA said in a user alert supplied by The Hill Healthwatch on the web. "It may also make your home unsafe to reside in - and - might not address the bedbug issue."

Using harsh chemicals not accepted by the EPA for home use can cause severe burn-like irritation of the eyes and skin, potential damage to the central nervous system, and might even introduce one to carcinogens.

There also have been numerous reports of house and apartment fires begun by distressed folks using highly flammable liquids to kill bedbugs. In January, a Cincinnati, Ohio person who was stripping his furniture down with a blend of insecticide and alcohol started a flame in his flat when his smoke sparked fumes out of the compound mixture. Back in July 2008, an Eatontown, nj man blew his flat while attempting doityourself pest control. A pilot light triggered the compound pollutants and spray causing an explosion which blew from the front windows of this flat and led to a fire which destroyed the individual's flat and caused serious injury to neighboring units.

"Pest control firms reported seeing many unsuccessful and potentially dangerous activities employed by do-it-yourselfers, including ammonia, bleach, flame, smoke, kerosene, wasp spray, along with bug bombs, as well as concentrated pesticides bought online," University of Kentucky entomologist and domestic bedbug expert Michael Potter, writes in Bugs Without Borders, Assessing the Global bed-bug Resurgence, an worldwide survey of pest management companies recently conducted at the University of Kentucky in combination with the NPMA. "As bedbug victims eventually become desperate, acute injury may result from such applications, especially among people who opt not to hire a specialist," he warns.

Bedbugs do not necessarily react to home treatment. These apple seed-sized pests which feed on human blood are difficult to kill, and a function of their biology and behavior. In the best, doityourself home remedies can force bedbugs to relocate, spreading infestations more quickly. These insects have a tough, protective carapace that is not easily penetrated. To killpest control services and products must enter into direct physical contact with an insect; and their eggs have been untouched byproducts now accepted by the EPA for home use. If not feeding, bed-bugs hide in inaccessible spaces deep inside minute cracks, interior walls, behind baseboards, under floor boards, and inside electronic devices. Bed-bugs along with their eggs can be also readily transported on possessions and clothing, allowing infestations to quickly spread through a house or apartment building. This combination of biology and behaviour causes it nearly impossible to kill an entire bedbug infestation having one pest control treatment. Three professional pest control treatments spaced two weeks apart are typically required to successfully exterminate a bedbug infestation and also ensure that concealed bugs and newly-hatched eggs have been killed.

Qualified extermination with a licensed pest control company with an expertise in bed pest removal has become the very best means to sew bed bugs. Even the EPA, to the bed-bug Information Page submitted on its website, states,"Getting a pest control professional (PMP) involved as soon as possible as opposed to just taking the time to use to treat the situation your self is rather capable of preventing further complications."

Fast action is vital in battling bed bug infestations. Bed bugs replicate at an alarming rate and infestations can grow fast. Throughout its 6- to 12-month lifespan, a female bed-bug will lay 500 eggs together with offspring capable of replicating within per month. It is not uncommon to find three or more bed bug productions found in a recognized infestation. Immediate treatment from the earliest phases of infestation can limit the infestation also keeps it from spreading.

To successfully treat bedbug issues, licensed pest control professionals use a composite of environmental management procedures, called Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and an assortment of pest control materials accepted by the EPA for residential usage exclusively by licensed pest management professionals. Effective bedbug extermination begins with meticulous pre-treatment prep to get rid of clutter, clothing, bed linens as well as other items that might allow bed-bugs to escape vulnerability to pest control substances. When site prep is done, a combination of pest control substances is required to strike bedbugs on multiple levels.

Concerns about security and health issues which have emerged from abuse of pest control compounds by unlicensed or improperly trained pest controllers and unqualified contractors trying to profit on public fear prompted the EPA to warn consumers to prevent insect extermination services made with"unrealistic promises of effectiveness or very low price."

Last July, a Newark, New Jersey pest control company was accused of prohibited application of compounds never approved for residential use. While providing bed bug treatments to 70 flats and homes components, technicians sprayed solid compounds on mattresses and kids' toys. In Cincinnati, Ohio last June, an undercover contractor hired to exterminate bed bugs soaked a apartment complex with a agricultural pesticide, sending seven tenants into a healthcare facility and causing public health officials to quarantine the property.


At the hopes of preventing such episodes, the NPMA recently developed Best Management Practices for Bed Bugs (BMP) to function as a guide for both the business and consumers. A set of consumer strategies for picking out a pest professional provided in the BMP urges that consumers hire only qualified and licensed pest management firms to secure their safety and health and ensure that the pest control services that they receive are both safe and effective. The NPMA further urges that consumers give preferential consideration to pest control firms who've achieved QualityPro certification, signaling that they exhibit the very best technical, educational and ethical standards within the business.