Bed Bugs

July 7, 2009

Hotels and dormitories having trouble with bed bugs may just have to turn up the heat. University of Florida researchers have found a way to kill bed bugs that doesn’t involve any pesticides; it just works like a convection oven.

Robert Pereira/UF Researcher: “Basically, we put all the furniture of the room at the center of the room, we create an oven around it by using insulation boards, and then, inside the box, we put two heaters and fans so that the air is heated and it’s circulated within the box.”

The Environmental Protection Agency prohibits the use of many pesticides that could kill these blood-sucking insects.

Robert Pereira/UF Researcher: “It’s a very simple system to control bed bugs. It doesn’t require any use of pesticides, and the equipment that is being used is fairly cheap.”

And researchers say the system’s already sparked interest among pest control operators.