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Bedbugs

W K Lis:

Sorry, bedbugs is not in my list of menu items I would want to eat.
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The point is - DDT doesn't degrade naturally in the environment and it will accumulate in organisms - it doesn't mean that bed bugs have to get eaten for it to accumulate because you know what, most of the DDT used won't end up in them anyways, but the environment in general.

AoD
 
A Toronto woman attended a screening of Scott Pilgrim at the Scotiabank on the 24th and thinks that she got bit by bed bugs there. After tweeting about it, within 24 hours the story spun out of control on the Internet and became an international media story what with TIFF beginning screenings there on Sept. 10th. A scary but interesting story and a creepy one, I was in that cinema four days earlier.
 
Just in case it's not clear, the theatre hired a pest control team who checked and didn't find any bedbugs.

I was a little more irritated with the woman who started this whole thing with her tweets until I found out that she'd left messages with cineplex that weren't returned...still, though, shows how you can do real damage with something as seemingly innocuous as twitter. If what the story says about Perez Hilton is true, too, then that's pretty bad...he just outright lied in his story.
 
That's why I don't want to move.
I don't have them and don't want them. :)

I had cockroaches in my last place but no bugs here. :)
 
An apartment could be treated for bedbugs before a new tenant comes in. But if the tenant brings in bedbugs on their own clothes and furniture, why should the landlord be responsible for what the tenant did? Hospital waiting rooms and emergency rooms are getting bedbugs because people bring them in on their clothes. Should be do searches of everybody's clothing and furniture, everyday, to screen them out?
 
You'd have to be heat treated every time you came home in case you picked up something on the subway or at a hospital. Maybe infrared cameras to detect the presence of bugs, followed by a strip down, a bug spray and a heat lamp?
 
W. K. Lis said:
An apartment could be treated for bedbugs before a new tenant comes in. But if the tenant brings in bedbugs on their own clothes and furniture, why should the landlord be responsible for what the tenant did? Hospital waiting rooms and emergency rooms are getting bedbugs because people bring them in on their clothes. Should be do searches of everybody's clothing and furniture, everyday, to screen them out?
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Treating an infested hotel room, apartment, condo etc. with pesticide is just the beginning. Each day a vacuum has to be run along the walls to pickup up the dead bugs, the suite has to be sealed with caulking then a second treatment about 10 days later to kill the newly hatched bedbugs (you can't see their nests) and more vacuuming. Luckily there are some conscientious landlords out there who are fighting the good fight. The key to winning this war is going to be education and developing new more effective, safe treatments. Stephen Cobert did a funny piece about bed bugs on his show last night (Thursday) as part of his "Threat Down". It showed old 50's footage of DDT fog being sprayed in rooms, on people, kids swimming in pools and such which he suggests should be bring back, it was pretty funny.
 
Scavengers used to go around picking up for reuse: chesterfields, easy-chairs, mattresses. Nowadays, they just stay out by the curb to be picked up as garbage.

However, that leaves used clothing, that hasn't been treated by the heat in dryers, going around. Dropping them into the laundry basket for the weekly wash is not the answer. And the reusable cloth shopping bags could also have hitchhikers.
 
W. K. Lis said:
Scavengers used to go around picking up for reuse: chesterfields, easy-chairs, mattresses. Nowadays, they just stay out by the curb to be picked up as garbage.
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Not true. There's rarely a time that I don't go out or come in through the back of my building (2-3 times a day) and not see someone picking through the garbage or vehicles picking up discarded furniture late at night. I also see it happening at other buildings as I walk my dog around the neighbourhood. It's a huge problem downtown.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
Not true. There's rarely a time that I don't go out or come in through the back of my building (2-3 times a day) and not see someone picking through the garbage or vehicles picking up discarded furniture late at night. I also see it happening at other buildings as I walk my dog around the neighbourhood. It's a huge problem downtown.
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And why bedbugs will continue.
 
bedbugs don't discriminate. they feed on warm blood. they may not be vectors of disease,but, let me tell you had bad it can get. I am an RN, I visit people in the community whom are ill. There's nothing like seeing an elderly gentleman return home after chemo who is weak,and immunocompromised,and being eaten by bedbugs. Sure, they don't transmit disease,but, the mental toll is awful,as is the physical toll of the infections that they're bites can create as a result of open sore left on those that can't heal as well as the average person. I've seen 5 month old babies brought to ER because they're bites have been so numerous they needed to be treated. The fact is ALL high density housing will become infested.You can treat YOUR unit, the bugs will move to the next unit and even if you've prepared your unit to the letter,the treatment will only be effective if all in the building have done the same. Understand? so, your neighbour may be not aware how to do so,or may be physically/mentally comprimised and unable to. Bedbugs will continue to spread in apartments, not so much in houses,as the owner has complete control over their home . apartment/condo dwellers don't. It's going to be as it usually is..once someone with money or power gets fed up,then they will deal with bedbugs.unitl sleep tight,don't let the bed bugs bite...but they wiill
 
^^^
This is all very very scary.

Here's a very real situation that I am facing: after three months' absence from my gym I feel that I should return to my workout routine very soon.

While I do plan to call the gym (the Y) to find out if there have been bedbug concerns, I am thinking, well, what if they say "no concerns" ... it is possible that any other client may be carrying bugs (or eggs) in the workout togs they've brought from home.

Am I being a ninny? It is very good to stay in shape, but the emotional toll of bedbugs would be a disaster for me at this point, because I've just gone through more than one "bereavement", and I have found that to be a very draining thing.

By the way, any health expert would tell you to work out, and/or walk a lot, after a period of grieving.

Comments, anyone? I'll appreciate hearing from you before I restart my fitness routine.
 
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I hear you Tony, and I'm feeling the paranoia too. Every time I'm in a crowd or on the TTC or sitting in a public space or staying in a hotel, I wonder ... will I bring home a hitchhiker? I tell myself not to be silly, but there's been so much press about them lately, and then you hear about stores in New York closing. It's nuts that a stupid little bug is causing this!

I've read articles that say when you stay in a hotel, go to a gym, etc., put all your clothing that you took with you, even if it isn't dirty, into plastic bags and then wash them as soon as you get home, and of course put everything in the dryer at high heat, including what you are wearing. Has it come to this, that we have to start stripping off as soon as we walk through the door?
 
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