When you wake up, look for any small, itchy spots, red rashes, or blisters; these could be symptoms of bed bugs. These little pests may infest your mattress, bed frames, box springs, and headboard seams. Bed bugs can be challenging to eliminate because they are difficult to find and increase. You must eliminate bed bugs as soon as possible because they can spread to other parts of your house and become a severe issue.

Both landlords and tenants have a duty to keep rental properties free from pest infestations. Bed bug infestations, like other pest infestations, signify unhygienic living conditions and are regarded as violations of both the San Francisco Health Code and the State Housing Code if they are not controlled. Bed bugs can enter your home through luggage, used furniture and beds, clothing, and other household items, but they are not a sign that your house is dirty. Make sure to contact bed bug experts in San Francisco California.

Bed bugs

Bed bugs are known to be pests, they are small and very hard to detect. But bed bugs are those types of pests that can break a home. When bed bugs are left untreated they can infiltrate the whole house due to the fact that they can spread quickly and the female bed bugs lay about five hundred eggs in their whole lifetime.

Pesticides/ Insecticides

1. Exposure to pesticides: Not only that bed bugs can develop resistance to pesticides, but they can also alter your day-to-day life without you noticing it. Exposure to pesticides can harm you and your family, not to mention that they can also hurt your pets.

2. Spraying pesticides can cause them to stray through the air and be transported thousands of miles from their original location. They contaminate your waterways and are present in the water you drink.

3. According to the WHO, acute pesticide poisoning claims the lives of over 350,000 people annually. Also excluded from this number are deaths from cancer and other chronic illnesses brought on by pesticide exposure. The WHO further predicts that long-term exposure may cause up to 750,000 people to annually develop certain cancers and chronic defects (World Health Organization, n.d.). Developing nations alone are included in this figure. The Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention (2022), also known as CPSP, also reports that self-poisoning with pesticides accounts for 15-20% of all suicides.

4. By 2020, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) predicts that sub-Saharan Africa will have spent $90 billion on illnesses and injuries brought on by pesticide use. This is more than the sum of all foreign aid given to the area for basic healthcare, excluding HIV/AIDS (United Nations Environment Programme, 2020).

How can I guard against harm when using or handling pesticides?

When possible, the WHO advises minimizing the use of pesticides. Find out first whether using pesticides is actually necessary and to what extent. Wherever possible, try to find non-chemical pest management solutions to the problem.

If pesticides are required, look for products with the lowest environmental and human health risks.

Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for application and personal safety when using pesticides. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is frequently necessary to prevent direct contact with the pesticide and reduce exposure while handling and applying it. 

According to Trusted Source, about 300 insecticide products are approved for use in the U.S. to treat bed bug infestations. The primary chemical classes are as follows: 

1. The two most frequently used pesticides to treat bed bugs are pyrethrins and pyrethroids. Chrysanthemum flowers are the source of pyrethrins, and pyrethroids are their synthetic counterparts. They affect the bugs' nervous systems. In particular, populations of older-generation products and some bed bug populations have developed resistance to these chemicals.

2. Silicates: Among these is the dust from diatomaceous earth (DED). Desiccant, they are. After the waxy, protective outer coating is destroyed, the bed bugs are killed by dehydration. Since the effects are physical rather than neurochemical, bugs cannot develop resistance to these substances.

3. IGRs (insect growth regulators): Examples include hydroplane and (S)-methoprene. Before the pesticides work, the insects must bite to draw blood. They are, therefore, a less appealing choice.

4. Carbamates: Bendiocarb and propoxur are two examples. Although they are more effective than pyrethrins and pyrethroids, resistance is starting to show.

5. Neonicotinoids: Imidacloprid is one example. These are efficient and produce no resistance. They have no lasting impact.

6. Pyrroles: These have a prolonged action, a low efficacy, but no resistance problems. Chlorfenapyr is the only pyrrole bed-bug pesticide in the United States.

DEDs and other desiccants work well against bed bugs. They benefit from several things, including: 

●      extended shelf life

●      low mammalian toxicity

●      extended residual life

●      minimal likelihood of resistance

●      they can be applied as a safeguard

Vacuuming

Vacuuming is a safe way to try getting rid of bed bugs. While vacuuming can kill adult bugs, it's less effective against eggs and larvae, and applying diatomaceous earth correctly is necessary to ensure maximum effectiveness.

The bed bugs can, in fact, crawl out of vacuums. When you vacuum up bed bugs from your sheets and upholstery, they don't perish. Additionally, despite how thoroughly you vacuum, bed bugs can still escape back out because many vacuum cleaners don't have perfect one-way valves.

Heat

Heat is one of the most essential factors in getting rid of bed bugs. Not only is heat treatment safe, but it also helps you eliminate bed bugs and their eggs.

Bed bugs cannot survive high heat. Our company offers one of the best bed bug heat treatments in San Francisco, California. You can effectively kill fabric bed bugs by washing them in hot water.

Bed bugs die when their body temperature reaches 45° Celsius or 113° Fahrenheit. You can kill all stages of the bugs by subjecting them for an hour to temperatures above these. All bed bugs are quickly killed at temperatures above 60°C (140°F) (Doggett et al., 2012).

 The high temperatures required to heat a room make it unlikely to succeed. Bed bugs will seek out the more excellent parts of the room where the heat is not present, which could spread an infestation.

Cold

Not only that bed bugs cannot survive high heat, they also cannot survive low temperatures. Bed bugs are known for being common in areas that are hot. Bed bugs are prevalent especially in the months of August and September.

Cold temperatures can kill bed bugs, but for the cold to penetrate an object and kill all the bugs and eggs, it must be below -18°C (0°F) for at least four days.

Smaller items that could harbor bed bugs can be placed in a freezer that is cold enough, and You should measure the 4-day window from the moment the object's center reaches -18°C (0°F). Bulkier objects require more time to process.

The EPA cautions that it may take a while to work, and those home freezers may not be cold enough to kill bugs (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2022).

Instant-freezing gas systems are ineffective and risk spreading an infestation because the high air pressure can drive the bugs away.

Experts

The best course of action is to get rid of them using a certified bed bug exterminator. Experienced pest controllers can successfully eradicate an infestation of bed bugs.

Professionals in pest control should:

1. Verify any infestation

2. Examine the area and, if possible, the surrounding areas.

3. Utilize both insecticides and non-chemical methods of control.

4. Review the course of treatment to ensure its success. 

5. recommend or implement preventative measures 

The use of pesticides is the most typical method of extermination. You and your family’s health could be in danger from these chemicals, though. Therefore, unless the infestation is more severe, our professionals try to avoid using this technique. Depending on the extent of the infestation, more than one method may be employed. Additionally, heat, steam, and vacuum are treatments for bed bugs. These solutions call for powerful tools that would be prohibitively expensive for the typical consumer. Professional-grade equipment is available to and used by our bed bug specialists.

 

References:

Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention. (2022, September 5). The Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention | CPSP - The Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention (CPSP) works to reduce the number of pesticide suicides worldwide. https://centrepsp.org/

Doggett, S. L., Dwyer, D. E., Peñas, P. F., & Russell, R. C. (2012). Bed bugs: Clinical relevance and control options. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3255965/

Pesticide Action Network UK. (2018, July 11). Working to reduce global suicide by pesticide ingestion. https://www.pan-uk.org/working-to-reduce-global-suicide-by-pesticide-ingestion/

United Nations Environment Programme. (2020). About UN environment programme. UNEP - UN Environment Programme. https://www.unep.org/about-un-environment

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2022, February 22). Top ten tips to prevent or control bed bugs. US EPA. https://www.epa.gov/bedbugs/top-ten-tips-prevent-or-control-bed-bugs

World Health Organization. (2022, September 15). Pesticide residues in food. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/pesticide-residues-in-food#:~:text=WHO%20has%20two%20objectives%20in%20relation%20to%20pesticides%3A,limits%20for%20pesticide%20residues%20in%20food%20and%20water

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Chemical safety: Pesticides. WHO | World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/chemical-safety-pesticides