Don’t Let The Bedbugs Bite

Bedbugs, once virtually eradicated in the United States, are making a comeback, thanks EPA!.

EPA to Blame for Bedbug Problems?

How long until we see a bedbugs horror movie on the big screen? With the nasty critters invading everything from movie theaters in Times Square to lingerie stores and hotels, there’s a damn near panic brewing over the tiny blood-suckers.

With bedbug infestations up 71 percent since 2001 at hotels and cases popping up across the country, people are starting to wonder: just how did this happen? Considering that the bugs have come back in part because of their increased resistance to available pesticides and a general cluelessness on how to effectively get rid of them because of their long absence, it’s hard to say.

But one target of the welt-covered masses is an unlikely suspect: the Environmental Protection Agency. It seems that some scientists and victims believe that after eradicating the nasty critters between World War II and the mid-1990s, bedbugs have staged a huge comeback after the Clinton-era Congress passed a major new pesticides law in 1996 that banned a number of chemicals that had been reliable bed bug killers.

Though the long-banned DDT is not a culprit – since the bugs had already developed a tolerance for that nasty chemical – the banning of such pesticides as Malathion and Propoxur may have contributed to the new wave of infestations. Now, leaders such as Ohio governor Ted Strickland are trying to get a waiver from the EPA to use the compounds to combat one of the country’s worst outbreaks in cities such as Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.

See also:
Why Is an Epidemic of Blood-Sucking Bed Bugs Sweeping the Nation?
US grapples with bedbugs, misuse of pesticides
Bedbugs staging dramatic comeback in the United States
Bedbugs Bite Their Way Across the Country
Battling bedbugs
Terminix Releases List of Top 15 Cities Favored by Bedbugs
Minneapolis Makes the List of Most Bedbug-Infested Cities
Twin Cities Bed Bug Problem Reaches Motel Rooms
Bedbug

Oh boy, Minneapolis is 15th on the infestation list.

/I’m glad there’s a river between Minneapolis and Saint Paul, I hope the little blood suckers can’t swim