Bed bugs: Cleaning up after the cleanup

Firm fined, ordered to clean up homes it treated with hazardous chemicals to combat bed bugs

Sometimes, doing wrong comes back to bite you.
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Jan. 31 fined a pest control company $860,000 for using hazardous pesticides to combat bed bugs in residential homes.
TVF Pest Control used dangerous chemicals in at least 50 homes in the first half of 2010, according to the report in The Jersey Journal.

Pesticides not approved for indoor use
The DEP investigation found that the company used Malathion and Carbaryl in the homes, even though the two pesticides have not been approved for indoor use. They can be absorbed through the skin and cause symptoms such as headaches, nausea and dizziness, muscle twitching and vomiting.

Exposure has been linked to chronic health effects
Pesticides are among the most widely used chemicals in the world, and also among the most dangerous to human health, as said by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Exposure to pesticides can lead to chronic health effects. In this case, the firm used two widely used insecticides that are deployed in agriculture and residential landscaping. They should not have been used indoors, and it’s sad to think that the residents of these 50 homes were exposed to them in the first place.

Health organizations warn against using pesticides to treat bed bugs
The US Environmental Protection Agency recently released a stark warning against using pesticides to treat bed bugs, saying it is dangerous for humans and doesn't solve the problem.

Companies that use any kinds of chemicals inside of buildings have to make sure that the air is clean and not laced with dangerous contaminants. Industrial-strength air purifiers from Electrocorp have been used successfully by contractors in various applications.

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