BY Aline Reynolds
Bed bug infestations can be a nightmare, which more and more New Yorkers have recently learned the hard way.
Victims would have been saved much anxiety and expense if they knew how to prevent bed bugs from entering their homes in the first place. And, according to pest management control experts, there are several ways to do so.
Bed bug consultants hosted an event at 201 Mulberry Street in SoHo on March 2 to provide tips on how to stop the blood-sucking critters in their tracks before they become a problem. “There’s not one simple bullet that’s going to kill or control them,” said Gretchen Paluch, director of basic research at EcoSmart, a nationwide pesticide-producing company. The strategy she and the other experts recommend is known as Integrative Pest Management, a multi-step approach to prevent and eliminate the spread of bed bugs and other pests in one’s home.
The number of bed bug infestations in New York City and other cities nationwide is rapidly climbing. The N.Y.C. hotline 3-1-1 received 10,985 calls from residents reporting bed bug infestations in 2009, up from 9,213 calls in 2008, according to EcoSmart.
Bed bug experts expect the number to continue to rise if New Yorkers don’t get up to speed with prevention measures.
“Education and awareness are [key] to helping [prevent] this problem,” said Danny White, an account representative of Bed Bug Central, an informational resource company based in Lawrenceville, N.J.
EcoSmart introduced three new federally approved pest-repellent sprays to the market last Wednesday, consisting of rosemary, cinnamon, peppermint and other plants. Their oil extracts attack the insects’ nervous system, killing them on contact — and act as odor repellents to the bugs in their attempted journeys to beds and other furniture.
The company collaborated with universities and labs around the country to test the products’ safety and effectiveness before putting them on the market. The sprays are supposed to be applied to suitcases and the headboards and legs of beds.
Steve Bessette, president of EcoSmart, stressed that the products are complements to, not substitutes for, exterminators. “It’s another tool in the toolbox,” he said.
Starting in April, the sprays will be available in limited quantities at Shoprite, Grand Union, Stop & Shop, and several other chain stores TriState and around the country. They are also for sale on EcoSmart’s website, www.ecosmart.com.
Mattress encasements can also help deflect bed bugs before they multiply, according to White.
White and his brother, Jeffrey White, a research entomologist for Bed Bug Central, held a demonstration at the SoHo event, placing a bed bug onto the arm of a participant and watching it suck her blood.
The Whites also showcased bed bug monitors, which emit heat, carbon dioxide and chemicals that attract the pests and eventually trap them inside the devices. The monitors are meant for use in office buildings, retail stores and vacant spaces.
Genma Holmes, a bed bug consultant based in Tennessee, provided tips on how to avoid bringing bed bugs home from hotels, which have become popular nesting grounds for the pests. Valises’ rough nylon surfaces are hotbeds for the pests, since their eggs easily stick to the material.
Holmes advises guests to store all luggage items in the hotel bathroom, where bed bugs don’t typically congregate, and discourages the use of closet space, coat hangers and other critter-hideout amenities the hotel provides.
Holmes reported that there was no sign of bed bugs in her hotel room at the Hampton Inn in SoHo, which she scrupulously inspected before settling in.
Another cautionary tactic is to encase travel bags in vinyl zip-up cases, which the company, BugZip, was advertising at the SoHo session. “Just because the room looks clean, doesn’t mean there are bed bugs,” warned the company’s president, Adam Greenberg. The cases are sold at USBedbugs.com, Amazon.com, Bed Bath and Beyond and specialty travel stores.
Joan Reilly, one of around 75 people who attended the session, raised the concern of bed bugs camping out in used furniture transported in U-Haul trucks. Infestations can indeed occur when moving residences, Holmes explained, since the old and new furniture pieces are often stacked together in the trucks.
Reilly’s sister had bed bugs for two months last spring, and had to vacuum and steam her furniture, and bag all household items, to get rid of them.
Bed bugs tend to resurface in abundance during the warmer months of July, August and September. The bed bug epidemic is particularly worsening in densely packed urban areas such as New York City.
“The more people you have, the more bugs you have, because people are living so close together,” explained White. “And it’s easier for them to make a resurgence each year as they get more and more embedded in a community.”
Bed bug bites can cause a variety of symptoms ranging from itchy skin welts to more serious allergic reactions. The skin irritations typically vanish in a few weeks’ time, but they can re-appear at a later date.
Once a residence becomes infested, the experts suggest immediate attention from professionals and active monitoring thereafter. Mattresses and other furniture items unprotected by pest-repellent sprays or wrapping material should be discarded immediately.
“If you let it go on for a long time, it turns into a bigger problem than low-level infestation,” said White.
Once the bed bugs disappear, the experts also advise victims to observe their weekly lifestyle habits that could be conducive to infestation. They suggest rectifying behavior to keep the voracious pests from returning.
