Bed Bug Scam Artists

--Susan Jones, PhD Associate Professor of Entomology, Ohio State University

"For many companies in search of easy money, the bedbug terror has been a godsend, and the market is crawling with snake-oil salesmen. Many "natural products" like cedar or lavender-based pesticides do little for a full-blown infestation, and can be like "putting a band-aid on a gaping wound." Many of these formulations are exempt from registration, and don't have to provide efficacy data, which means that their producers' claims may be entirely fictitious.

Some products, like bug bombs or foggers, can even make the problem worse. Unlike many insects that quickly infest a space, bedbugs tend to cluster in small areas. But, when an area is bug bombed, bedbugs will scatter, expanding their infestation throughout a home, apartment, or building. In spite of this, some companies, such as Hot Shot, advertise foggers for use with bedbugs.

Other options may help with bedbugs, but can take an extremely long time to work. Diatomaceous earth, for example, causes bedbugs to slowly asphyxiate, but can take weeks to be effective. As for alcohol-based sprays -- another common solution -- she notes that "they will kill bedbugs if they contact them. For that matter, so will a flyswatter or a rolled-up newspaper. The big problem isn't the bugs you can spray or swat; it's the ones in tiny cracks and crevices, the ones you cannot find."

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