Study shows bedbugs becoming chemically resistant

ATLANTA — Bedbugs are developing a thicker skin which makes them resistant to common bug sprays according to a new study by the University of Sydney, as reported by CNN.

The results of the study, which were published in the PLOS ONE scientific journal, found the parasites have grown stronger due to increased efforts to eliminate them with chemicals. Prior research has indicated this as well.

“Professional extermination of bedbugs typically costs $200 to $1,500 per room and often fails,” the article says. But due to the use of extermination products, the insects have developed a thicker “natural covering,” allowing them to survive against these chemicals.

The study was partially funded by a bedbug product manufacturer, Bayer Crop Science, in an effort to find better ways to control the bedbug epidemic.

“Most chemical treatments are of limited effectiveness [anyway],” says Shane Chow, a cleaning industry expert. “Some that had a 99 percent kill rate in lab conditions only killed about 25 percent (or less) of bedbugs in real-world setting. It is believed that the bedbugs grown for lab use do not have the resistance to pesticides found in most real-world populations.”

Chow points out that bedbugs are sensitive to very hot and cold temperatures, so hot water extraction on applicable items is one alternative to insecticides.

For Chow’s article, “Attack of the Bedbugs,” please click here.

For the CNN article, please click here.

For the study results, please click here.