The biggest issue with DDT and other assorted pesticides is partly as cancer causing agents but more importantly it's that they seep into the environment and affect hormone levels of mammals which lead to things like cancer, birth defects and especially the increase in genital birth defects.
I had them last year. They are very difficult to deal with psychologically and very hard to get rid of.
My tips:
1. Call the pros and don't skimp on the price. Get the good stuff and make sure they spray in every crack and crevasse in the entire house.
2. Call them back two or three times if needed. The chemicals they use are the only thing that will actually kill the bugs. Raid won't do it. It took us three treatments but we've been bug-free (knock on wood) for 13 months.
3. You don't necessarily need to throw out your mattress. You can see if they are in the creases of the mattress. If they are not, then they are hiding somewhere else and there's no need to throw away a perfectly good mattress.
I spoke to a few informed people in my journey to rid my house of the bugs and one of the guys who sprayed my house told me that he had been in (what looked like) a multi-million dollar penthouse condo the week before doing a treatment. He said a good deal of his customers had recently been to New York City and brought them back from a hotel. That's what we figure happened to us.
3. You don't necessarily need to throw out your mattress. You can see if they are in the creases of the mattress. If they are not, then they are hiding somewhere else and there's no need to throw away a perfectly good mattress.
As an aside, there are cotton mattress covers that can be purchased which seal bed bugs and their eggs inside the cover, Google "bed bug mattress covers". Bed bugs can live for about a year without feeding, so it'll have to stay on your mattress until then if you want to save your mattress. These covers are also good for people with allergies to dust mites and they're very inexpensive - especially when compared to the cost of replacing a good mattress. Of course you have to make sure that no bugs exist anywhere else on the bed frame and follow the tip of putting two sided tape around the legs of the bed and pull the bed a few inches away from the wall. Discard pillows and wash all bed linens in hot water and then dry in a hot dryer to kill any bed bugs and their eggs in your bed linens. So long as your careful not to transfer any bed bugs via your clothing into the bed, you'll be able to get peaceful sleep again until your home or apartment has been successfully treated and bed bugs eliminated.
This is certainly an important issue but man, we sure are grasping at straws to find things to worry about these days. I was reading the star on it's website the other day and of the 8 main headline features 2 had the word "fear" directly in the title and 4 of the remaining 6 implied something we should fear.
You'll fear bedbugs and fear the DDT that can kill them. You'll fear that there is no alternative to the pesticide that you fear to kill the bugs that you fear.
At least it will momentarily take away from the fear of someone coughing on you and giving you H1N1 - which you fear you'll get because you can't get the flu shot yet, and still fear what the fearmongers say about the vaccine.
Then there's that asteroid that come plummeting down at any minute...
How can you say this, and also say that DDT has never been banned? Surely this is a contradiction? I suggest never using the word never unless whatever you're saying is absolute.
How can you say this, and also say that DDT has never been banned? Surely this is a contradiction? I suggest never using the word never unless whatever you're saying is absolute.
Thank you for clarifying what you are saying. Your original claim that "DDT has never been banned for fighting malaria" made no sense and wasn't support by the wiki link you provided. No one was grasping straws, BTW, just seeking evidence of the claim of "never been banned".
Thank you for clarifying what you are saying. Your original claim that "DDT has never been banned for fighting malaria" made no sense and wasn't support by the wiki link you provided. No one was grasping straws, BTW, just seeking evidence of the claim of "never been banned".
I see what you're doing. Your claim - "By banning DDT we have condemned millions to death from malaria" - was wrong. So to save face you nitpick one sentence that I didn't qualify to your liking. Interesting debate strategy, but not very effective.
