DDT Bed Bugs: The Effects

DDT bed bugs is a synthetic pesticide mass-produced in the 1940s and found to kill mosquitos, bedbugs and other insects. DDT was found to be seriously harmful to people and was eventually banned in the United States, then worldwide, though it continued to be used in Africa to reduce malaria outbreaks.

Worldofbedbugs.com says that DDT lowered the occurrence of bedbugs in the 1940s and ’50s. However, the pesticide was too harmful to continue to use. The product was banned in the United States in 1972, according to Bedbugfindersllc.com

Awitness.org states, in reference to a BBC article, that DDT is useless in killing bedbugs. Bedbugs developed immunity to DDT in the 1940s and it now only acts as an ‘upper’ for the insect, which causes it to attack more, rather than killing it.

Since the 1990s, the prevalence of bed bugs in the home has steadily increased. Bed bug infestations ceased considerably in the 1940s and 1950s, as the pesticide DDT was used to eliminate these pests from the home. But since the ban on DDT, bed bug populations have surged, and parts of North America, Europe and Australia are seeing a considerable increase in local infestations.

While bed bugs are attracted to clutter (it makes it easier for them to hide), even the cleanest and most organized home can be infested with these annoying pests. Bed bugs can be difficult to get rid of, but fortunately, there are preventative actions you can take to keep your home safe.

Check any mattress you intend to sleep on for signs of bed bugs. Signs include the bugs themselves, blood stains, cast skins (which are empty shells the bugs leave behind when growing from one stage to the next), feces and eggs. Remove the sheets and bedding and check along the mattress seams. Pull the mattress away from the wall and check the box springs by shining a flashlight through the fabric, to make sure there are no visible bugs. Check behind and around the headboard.

Check any used furniture you intend to bring into your home—particularly mattresses or upholstered furniture. These items should be thoroughly inspected for signs of bed bugs. Used mattresses should be encased in a plastic cover for at least 9 months so that bugs and their eggs will die.

In 1972, the pesticide DDT was banned in the United States, and bed bugs have become an increasingly common pest ever since. Bed bugs are small parasitic insects that feed exclusively on the blood of animals and humans. Growing to an adult length of 3/16 inch, bed bugs are best known for lurking in mattresses and box springs. Bed bugs, however, live and thrive in other areas of your home.

Bed bugs are reddish-brown in color and oval-shaped with a flat body. As a bed bug grows, it sheds its exoskeleton. Look for shed exoskeletons when inspecting your bed or other furniture for signs of an infestation. Other signs of an infestation include eggs, and small dots of dried blood and excrement on your mattress. Bed bugs feed at night on sleeping hosts. During the daytime, the insects retreat into communal hiding spots.

Despite being known as bed bugs, these insects live anywhere they find a hiding spot near sleeping hosts. Beds are the most common site, but couches, chairs, carpet and piles of dirty clothes are just as likely to host bed bugs.

According to Michael Potter, author of “The History of Bed Bug Management,” more than 75 percent of all English homes were infested with bed bugs in the 1800s. Wealthier families who could afford maids kept bed bug populations in check with rigorous cleaning. Unfortunately, much of the bed bug infestation remained widespread and unchecked in poor and overcrowded urban neighborhoods. To deal with the infestation, many families adopted bed bug cures — some effective, some quite toxic.

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