DE for Bed Bugs
I’ve been busy doing laundry. My son just came home from 6th grade camp, with smelly bags full of wet clothes, sleeping bags, and torn plastic bags that were used to keep everything neat and tidy. There was also a flier about bedbug infestation, hot water, hot dryers and suffocation for the non-washables for 15 days. All bags have been outside on the patio, where I literally, gather a load, and run it into the open washer as quickly as I can.
The next morning he was off back to the same bedbug infested city for a soccer camp.
My question is this: If bedbugs are developing a resistance to all of those toxic chemical bug sprays, why don’t they just use old-fashioned Boric Acid Powder instead?  Or, more importantly, and easily, why not sprinkle the beds with  Diatomaceous Earth
Just wondering.
Boric acid may kill Bedbugs but the answer is two-fold.
First a company has to produce the product and have it labeled to kill Bedbugs. For a product to be sold “OTC” or used by professionals, the manufacturer has to apply the for product registration as well as supply the research data on the product and its affects on the insects it will be used against. The EPA reviews this information and either denies or approves the product for registration. If Bedbugs are not listed on the label to the boric acid power you are using then legally you cannot use it for Bedbugs or any other insect not on the label.
Second, applying a powder may not be the answer to every situation. As a professional I can tell you that most people don’t a powder spread all over the place. There was a time when apartment owners or superintendents would “sprinkle” broic acid throughout the kitchen as a roach preventative. This is just poor practice. Since Bedbugs mainly harbor in the bedroom(s), this is the main area of treatment. I assume, based on experience, that most people would not want boric acid powder spread on their headboards, in and on night stands, dressers, baseboards or mattresses. Boric acid is not harmless and is toxic. I have copied this link for you to review http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC34663. This site provides valuable information for almost all known pesticide products.
I hope not to come across as crass. I don’t want to see anyone get sick by applying materials they think are harmless. In many cases I have found more harmful products under people’s kitchen sink then in the chemical supply room of most pest control companies.
Thank you for this information. Yes, my Boric Acid bottle does say “kills bedbugs” so hopefully, now the FDA has approved it for Bedbugs. Yes, I do realize it is not harmless… and needs to be used with caution. But as a first line of defense, it seems safer to sprinkle the area infested, as there are now harmful fumes, and keep everyone out of the room until the problem is solved. Then, it could be swept up. Wouldn’t a little powder on the nightstands and mattresses, temporarily, be better than having bugs crawling all over the same surfaces?
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