BED BUG SPRAY: Do bed bug sprays work?
If you have discovered bed bugs in your house or apartment, then the first instinct usually is to get the insect spray out and give them a good spray.
But is that enough, to get rid of the bed bugs?
Most certainly not, but every little thing helps..
The problem with spraying bed bugs, is that bed bugs these days have grown immune to many kinds of pesticides. That is one of the reasons that the bed bug infestation problem is getting worse.
On top of that, when you use a bed bug spray, you are only targeting the bed bugs that you can see. But most of the bed bugs will be hiding in cracks, away from the spray, and you may also have numerous bed bug eggs present, that won’t die from the spraying. So, you might be able to kill some of the bed bugs, but most likely there will still be some left, that are able to breed and multiply.
BED BUG SPRAYS.
All pesticides that are labeled for use in the United States have to be registered by the EPA. To get an EPA registration, the pesticide product has to be thoroughly tested for acute and chronic effects on mammals (laboratory rats and dogs), the potential effects on birds, fish, and honeybees has to be documented, and the environmental fate (half-life) of these products in water or soil also must be quantified. The cost of having a product registered is now estimated to be around $ 100 million. This cost naturally limits the number of products that make it to the marketplace. In addition, there has been a 10 to 15 year trend in reducing the number of pesticide products that receive registration for use in the indoor environment. In short, it is very hard to get new pesticides registered that are labeled for indoor use (as opposed to agricultural use).
However, throughout this trend of limiting indoor pesticides, we were bed bug free. Like the EPA, many people have concerns about applying chemicals where children sleep or play. But, if bed bugs should become as big a problem as they were at the beginning of the 20th century, the public may demand that the federal government register products that are effective against bed bugs.
BED BUG SPRAYS on THE MARKET:
Pesticide Bed Bug Spray – There are typically two types of toxic bed bug sprays; a water base form and an oil base form. The water based bed bug spray usually includes a poison called deltamethrin, which is a residual product and lasts several weeks or months.
A water-based bed bug spras show it to be about 50% less effective than the oil based bed bug spray, which generally include some type of pyrethrin and piperonylbutoxide toxic chemical. However, they are do have residual effectiveness for up to six weeks. Many states do not allow deltamethrins in concentrated forms because of environmental concerns.
Many pyrethrin based Bed Bug sprays, however, have a short active window and becomes ineffective within a day of use.
Examples of Bed Bug Sprays are:
Steri-Fab.
Dead Bed Bugs.
TravelSafe Eradicator.
Also, Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth is commonly used for killing bed bugs. It is a powder that can kill many insects.
Example: Safer Diatomaceous Earth.
NATURAL BED BUG SPRAYS.
Various products on the market today claim to kill bed bugs while being “all-natural.” These products often contain ingredients such as cinnamon, lemon grass, tea tree oil, and lavender. Examples of natural bed bug sprays are:
Rest Easy Bed Bug Spray.
Bed Bug Bully spray.
In general , “natural” products are not as effective as synthetic pesticides, no matter what the manufacturer claims!
-You will be able to find more example Bed Bug sprays by visiting the links on this website. For more information on how to get rid of bed bugs effectively, visit HOW TO GET RID OF BED BUGS at HOME.
If you have had any experiences with Bed Bug Sprays, then please leave a comment about whether the bed bugs spray was effective and not, and which type you used. We all need to help eachother.