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New York not in line for powerful bed bug poison

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By Teri Karush Rogers  |
November 12, 2009 - 1:19PM
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Yesterday, Ohio electrified the nation’s growing legion of bed bug sufferers:  The state asked feds for emergency permission to battle the bugs with an insecticide said to be 100 percent effective against the blood suckers but not approved for home use.

A dozen states joined Ohio’s petition, but BrickUnderground has learned that New York was not among them.

"The Department of Environmental Conservation has not requested that exemption,” says Gil Bloom, a BrickTank expert and an entomologist who is also the president of Standard Pest Management in Queens and a member of Mayor Bloomberg’s nascent Bedbug Advisory Board.  “I can only conjecture they’re probably taking a wait and see approach.”

Bloom says New York is quite conservative about pesticides.

“Some of the current political powers that be are busy trying to ban more things, so they’re certainly not going to extend themselves here,” says Bloom.  “They will probably wait to see what happens in other states—see whether they get the exemption from the EPA and whether environmental groups file suit.”

So is Propoxur, the insecticide at issue, the holy grail of bed bug extermination?

“It will definitely be an addition to the arsenal as a restricted-use material,” says Bloom. “It is more effective and more problematic and probably should not be applied around a bed area because of odor and possibly inhalation issues.”  

He believes Propoxur may be ideal in moving trucks to prevent cross-contamination.

Though it doesn’t look like New Yorkers will get their hands on Propoxur anytime soon, Bloom notes that the feds have been in discussion with chemical companies for some time about bringing back old products that have fallen out of use. 
 

Related links:

Bed bug insurance? Apparently not

Bed bugged storage (Part 1):  Is your stuff safe?

Bed bugged storage (Part 2): How to protect your stuff

NYC bed bug stats: A vast understatement?

$250,000 bed bugs online; another co-op goes to war

Brooklyn still #1 bed bug borough; Manhattan (UWS & North) next

Co-op hair-raiser: $250,000 bed bug bill

Your neighbor's bed bugs

 

Teri Rogers Headshot - Floral

Teri Karush Rogers

Founder & Publisher

Founder and publisher Teri Karush Rogers launched Brick Underground in 2009. As a freelance journalist, she had previously covered New York City real estate for The New York Times. Teri has been featured as an expert on New York City residential real estate by The New York Times, New York Daily News, amNew York, NBC Nightly News, The Real Deal, Business Insider, the Huffington Post, and NY1 News, among others. Teri earned a BA in journalism and a law degree from New York University.

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