# Bedbugs are back?... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 7, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697 "2010-05-07T23:45:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harvey\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@Harvey\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_B)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/1 "2010-05-07T23:45:42Z")
This was quite an interesting story – see the full Straight Dope staff report [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2933/how-did-bedbugs-make-a-comeback). Having researched this elsewhere, I’ve heard that another reason that many attribute to the bedbug resurgence is the greater amount of international travel, both on the part of business travelers and also new immigrants. This is not to disparage people seeking a new life the US – certainly international visitors and immigrants have always been coming to the USA. But as Doug mentions, people were more aware of bedbugs in the “old days” and were more proactive about fighting bedbugs. I hope the need to remain politically correct didn’t keep Doug from mentioning this other factor. Recall the fears from not long ago about SARS, Asian bird flu, and other health threats brought from other countries. So it’s reasonable to propose that this same factor could be part of the bedbug resurgence. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/2 "2010-05-09T11:58:17Z")
Hey! Welcome to the boards. It’s nice to have someone who read the rules and posted a link. Based on the stuff I’ve seen Cecil write, I don’t think you have to worry about political correctness factoring in. It’s more likely space consideration and/or not many sources mentioning your idea. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/3 "2010-05-10T01:35:49Z")
A new article: “Bedbugs in the Duvet: An infestation on the Upper East Side.” [An Inside Look at the Upper East Side's Bedbug Infestation -- New York Magazine - Nymag](http://nymag.com/news/features/65733/) > [@](#): > > In 2004, the Health Department tallied 537 complaints and 82 actual violations. Last year, those numbers ballooned to 10,985 complaints and 4,084 violations (given that the problem is thought to be significantly underreported, the notion that there aren’t far more cases is daylight madness). What is less well known is that, contrary to the popular stereotype, bedbugs aren’t found only in lower-income neighborhoods. Margaret, in fact, is part of a mostly silent community of wealthy Upper East Siders suffering from the scourge. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/4 "2010-05-10T12:43:15Z")
They went away After hanging around and bothering me every night And, when they went and bit me I said things that weren’t very nice The bedbugs are back, and there’s gonna be trouble (Hey la, hey la, the bedbugs’re back) When you see them comin’, better cut out on the double (Hey la, hey la, the bedbugs’re back) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/5 "2010-05-13T06:57:34Z")
Bedbugs are back because the weapon used to kill them off is banned. DDT was highly effective. If the problem with bedbugs gets worse, DDT may need to come back. But, only for licensed pest control contractors. It’s too toxic for the general public to buy and overuse. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/6 "2010-05-13T18:49:01Z")
DDT isn’t toxic to humans. It just needs to be reserved for controlled use indoors, instead of blanket spraying the planet. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/7 "2010-05-13T19:27:37Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > A new article: “Bedbugs in the Duvet: An infestation on the Upper East Side.” [An Inside Look at the Upper East Side's Bedbug Infestation -- New York Magazine - Nymag](http://nymag.com/news/features/65733/) That was a good read. It’s interesting the article mentioned that bedbugs were already becoming resistant to DDT about the time of its banning. I wonder how much, and for how long, DDT would help? Oh, and those stories about slobs who had bedbugs falling off them as they walk around? That’s just bizarre. Back later, I"m off checking my bed. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/8 "2010-05-13T20:33:17Z")
If DDT hasn’t been used in the past 50 years, then I imagine it would be fairly useful, especially if limited to indoor use and not generally spread about willy nilly. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/9 "2010-05-17T14:21:59Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > DDT isn’t toxic to humans. It just needs to be reserved for controlled use indoors, instead of blanket spraying the planet. Correct. DDT is non-toxic to humans, in fact it is one of the most tested chemicals for human toxicity in the history of chemistry. When I was a student, my entomology professor had a can of pure DDT on his desk and used to eat spoonfuls of it to show just how non -toxic it was. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/10 "2010-05-18T04:15:44Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > DDT isn’t toxic to humans. It just needs to be reserved for controlled use indoors, instead of blanket spraying the planet. Then why was it banned? Did it hurt our food supply or something? ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/11 "2010-05-18T14:28:22Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Then why was it banned? Did it hurt our food supply or something? It was banned due to public pressure started, in part, by the book _Silent Spring_, by Rachel Carson, highlighting problems with accumulation in wildlife, thinning wild bird egg shells and other issues. As a medical entomologist with expertise in malaria, in my expert opinion most of the studies highlighting these negative effects of DDT are complete garbage. Even if DDT did cause some problems, most of those would be due to agricultural use - not vector control. For malaria control, DDT was sprayed on the walls of the houses, only a fraction of the amount used for controlling ag pests, and in a much more controlled application. Now that DDT isn’t used, we drench crop fields and spray houses with MUCH more toxic substances such as organophosphates (and a study just come out with a strong association between OP’s and ADHD). We switched a very safe and effective chemical for a suite of toxic and less effective treatments. IMHO, Rachel Carson is indirectly responsible for more human deaths than almost anyone in modern human history. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/12 "2010-05-18T16:56:14Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Then why was it banned? Did it hurt our food supply or something? It’s a persistent organic pollutant highly hydrophobic and strongly lipophilic, i.e. it accumulates in body fat and magnifies as it moves up the food chain, eventually resulting in dangerously high levels in apex predators such as raptors and humans. It isn’t considered highly toxic in mammals, but it is a reproductive toxicant in birds - not just the famous Bald Eagle, but other raptors, waterfowl and song birds. It’s higly toxic to aquatic life including sea shrimp and fish. In humans, it’s linked to diabetes, breast, liver and pancreatic cancers, difficulties with breast feeding, pregnancy difficulties among the daughters of exposed mothers, decreased semen quality among men, early pregnancy loss (miscarriage), and congenital hypothyroidism, leading to cretinism and generally interfering with proper thyroid function. It’s trendy to blame Rachel Carson but she never called for a ban, and advocated careful, sparing use over broad spraying. Predictably, niave Western bleeding-heart arm-chair do-gooders advocate for its use without thought or concern for the dangers of its uncareful use. Wiki [on DDT.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT) ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/13 "2010-05-18T17:44:05Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Predictably, niave (sic) Western bleeding-heart arm-chair do-gooders advocate for its use without thought or concern for the dangers of its uncareful use. I would rephrase this statement thusly: **“Predictably, naive Western bleeding-heart arm-chair do-gooders advocate for its banning without thought or concern for the almost half a billion people infected with malaria each year, with millions of deaths”.** Seriously, medical entomology and vector-borne disease research in general was considered a dying field at one point because DDT was well on its way to eliminating malaria as a serious public health threat. Why study these systems when they are on the brink of elimination? I can tell you how that worked out. I should be grateful I guess - it gave me a job. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/14 "2010-05-18T17:49:38Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > IMHO, Rachel Carson is indirectly responsible for more human deaths than almost anyone in modern human history. Come now, that isn’t fair - shouldn’t you give Our Lady of the Pox (aka Jenny McCarthy) time to catch up? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/15 "2010-05-18T17:50:54Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > Correct. DDT is non-toxic to humans, in fact it is one of the most tested chemicals for human toxicity in the history of chemistry. When I was a student, my entomology professor had a can of pure DDT on his desk and used to eat spoonfuls of it to show just how non -toxic it was. Wow. That’s … uh … that’s a dedicated teacher, there. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/16 "2010-05-18T18:22:26Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > I would rephrase this statement thusly: > > **“Predictably, naive Western bleeding-heart arm-chair do-gooders advocate for its banning without thought or concern for the almost half a billion people infected with malaria each year, with millions of deaths”.** Well, it goes both ways. DDT is bad for the environment, but a universal blanket banning was stupid. But a knee-jerk blanket unbanning would invariably lead to damage we’ll get the blame for too. Anyway, mosquitoes had already developed DDT resistance in many areas, and were rapidly developing resistance in others, before the ban. DDT is already useless in some areas. It’s still being used in areas where it can do some good. George Bush signed the Malaria Initiative which included the use of DDT for Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS). Of course, people living in IRS homes end up with the highest DDT levels so I guess we’ll see what the long-term reproductive harm is. But Africa and Central America have too many people anyway, so it’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/17 "2010-09-09T21:42:37Z")
It’ll be interesting in the next five years as these bugs take over. Once they start appearing in theatres and other places with upholstered furniture, you’re going to have everyone tracking them all over. You’re going to have to go back to mattress covers, metal frame beds, dusting powders and such. And of course the second hand stores are gonna find themselves losing a lot of business. I mean you can easily wash second hand clothes but you can easily decontaminate a sofa, chair or bed. It’s gonna be a fun time the next five years \ ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/18 "2010-09-10T04:54:10Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > > [@mozchron](#): > > > > Correct. DDT is non-toxic to humans, in fact it is one of the most tested chemicals for human toxicity in the history of chemistry. When I was a student, my entomology professor had a can of pure DDT on his desk and used to eat spoonfuls of it to show just how non -toxic it was. > > Wow. That’s … uh … that’s a dedicated teacher, there. Especially since it’s fat-soluble. He could possibly be poisoning himself slowly over a period of years if he eats enough per spoonful, especially if he’s a fairly thin fella. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-are-back/538697/19 "2010-09-10T20:10:05Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > > [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > > > Wow. That’s … uh … that’s a dedicated teacher, there. > > Especially since it’s fat-soluble. He could possibly be poisoning himself slowly over a period of years if he eats enough per spoonful, especially if he’s a fairly thin fella. As I said in another thread, he died of a heart attack at the ripe old age of 84 while hiking in the mountains.