Finding and Using Bed Bug Pesticides
The EPA has registered over 300 products to help combat bed bug infestation. Although individual consumers can use a majority of these products, there are only a few registered ones, and trained professionals can use them. EPA evaluates data on the product’s effectiveness and safety before they are approved.
There are generally seven known classes of pesticides that are currently registered. These pesticides are all used as a control method for bed bugs. They are:
• pyrethroids
• pyrethrins
• desiccants
• pyrroles
• biochemicals
• neocolonialist
• insect growth regulators
It is important to state that there are well over 300 products that are presently registered under these group of pesticides.
Dichlorvos (an organophosphate, alternatively known as DDVP,) is also used for bed bugs control. Although it is a tight pattern control and is usually used for treating small enclosures, it is registered as a test strip.
Using different modes of operation, every chemical class is capable of killing bed bugs. It is better to use pesticides with varying methods of operation as it reduces the bed bug’s chances of developing resistance.
Mentioned below are details of the most used bed bugs chemicals.
• Pyrethrins and Pyrethroids: These two chemicals are most famous for the control of indoor pests and bed bugs. A derivative of chrysanthemum flowers, Pyrethrins are botanical insecticides. On the other hand, Pyrethroids which tend to act like pyrethrins are synthetic chemical insecticides. These two compounds are very useful in eradicating a bed bug infestation as they can get them out of the places they hide and kill them. However, due to the presence of resistant bed bug strains, these two chemicals may only be able to flush bed bugs out from their hiding places to other locations. There are specific populations of bed bugs that have been able to build resistance against pyrethrins and pyrethroids. A better control measure will be to use a combination method. A method that combines a variety of chemical classes into a single product or the use of active ingredients containing multiple pyrethrin or pyrethrin will be better at controlling bed bugs. When a bed bug population is proving to be resistant against the chemical, it is advisable to switch to an entirely different chemical class.
• Desiccants: Desiccants kills bed bugs by destroying their waxy outer coating which serves as their protective coat. Bedbugs become dehydrated and die off immediately their outer layer is damaged. Desiccants are a reliable control method when combating a bed bug infestation. This is because of its physical mode of operation. Unlike other pesticides, bed bugs are unable to build a resistance against desiccants, this makes it a very efficient control. They do not affect normal bed bug activities, and their effects are long-lasting.
Examples include:
• Boric acid.
• Diatomaceous earth
It is imperative that only desiccants that are EPA registered and labeled for the control of bed bugs should be applied for bed bug control. Apart from its power over bed bugs, desiccants can also be used in swimming pools or for food-grade. However, it can pose an increased risk of inhalation to people via such uses. Therefore, desiccants should only be used in cracks and crevices to reduce the risk of inhalation.
• Biochemicals: This pesticide is directly pressed from Neem tree seeds. Neem tree is a tropical evergreen tree that is found mainly in Africa and Southeast Asia. Neem oil contains various insecticidal and medicinally rich compounds. It can also be used in the production of such products as toothpaste, shampoos, cosmetics, and soaps. The product has been proven to control both adult, nymphs, and eggs via performance trials.
• Pyrroles: As is with biochemicals, only one pyrrole pesticide is presently registered for bed bug control. Pyrroles are also known as a Chlorfenapyr, and it is a pro-insecticide. Bed bug dies as a result of a disruption of specific functions in its cell caused by the new chemical that is formed by Chlorfenapyr.
• Neonicotinoids: They are nicotine in synthetic forms. They cause nerves to continually fire until they fail by acting on the nervous system’s nicotinic receptors. As a result of this mode of action, bed bugs populations that are resistant to other pesticide are unable to build resistance against neonicotinoids making it a firm control against bed bugs.
• Insect Growth Regulators: Some chemicals mimic juvenile growth hormones in insects; they are referred to as insect growth regulators. They work in two ways; either by altering chitin (a compound used by insects to produce exoskeleton) production or by changing the insect’s ability to develop into adulthood. Growth regulators act uniquely, some speed up the growth of bed bugs while others stop the growth.