Bedbugs don’t just hide in beds… They can get into your suitcases when you drop them off on public transport or in your hotel room. So how can you be sure to return from vacation without surprise guests in your luggage? By heating them, according to a study by Dr. Catherine Loudon, specialist in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California (United States), published in the journal Pest Management Science.
Heating the suitcases rather than spraying them with insecticides
The biologist exposed 250 bedbugs placed on luggage to an environment whose temperature fluctuated between 70 and 75°C. In just six minutes, all those little insects were killed, even those that had hidden in the corners of suitcases. Another observation: during the heating experiment, only one bed bug out of the 250 present managed to get into the suitcase, compared to 3% of them at room temperature (i.e. 5 bed bugs out of a total of 170). “Heat is a real method of bed bug control because it’s effective and safe for the environment, but heat can take time to penetrate furniture or a suitcase.“explains Dr. Loudon in a press release from the scientific editor Wiley Blackwell. “Bed bugs located on the outside of luggage are constrained to the periphery and are therefore more vulnerable to rapid exposure to heat” she continues. Heating could therefore in this situation represent a good alternative to insecticides, which are harmful to the environment and to which some bed bugs have become resistant.
Beware of pimples and itching
Bedbugs measure a few millimeters and are therefore visible to the naked eye. Although they do not carry diseases, they still cause pimples and itching. Worse, the difficulty of eradicating them and the fear of being nibbled on all night can quickly turn into a nightmare. Last April, a study recommendeduse yellow or green sheets rather than red or blackto scare away this little parasite.
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Bed bugs: soon a trap?
The genome trail to hunt bed bugs
Home remedies for bug bites
