This document is not final and is subject to change.
Insecticide sprays are widely available tools for bed bug management. Most people think of these products first. While many over-the-counter pesticides can help manage bed bugs, the type of product and the way it is applied can affect the success of a treatment. This is especially true with bed bugs, which are secretive insects that hide in cracks and crevices. To be an expert in bed bug management requires an understanding of pest biology and the time to do a thorough, targeted treatment in areas where bed bugs hide.
In this guide, we do not recommend do-it-yourself insecticide sprays for managing bed bugs on household items.
Why? The most effective pest management strategy for pests like bed bugs, mice, cockroaches, and others is Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM uses a combination of tools (inspection, isolation, sanitation, physical removal, mechanical control, etc.) to fight pests. This strategy reduces risks to human health (fewer toxins, lower allergens), to the environment, and lowers the economic impact on families dealing with bed bugs (no need to throw out and replace belongings).
These justifications sound good, but there are additional reasons to use IPM:
- Pesticides, alone, often may not resolve the issue. Bed bug hiding spots are sometimes inaccessible or missed by the applicator, bed bugs spread from one apartment to another depending on the pesticides used, and many pesticides have short residuals (meaning they do not last long on surfaces).
- People affected by bed bugs still need to treat household items that could have bed bugs, because pesticides are inappropriate treatments for many things, such as clothing.
- Pesticide resistance in bed bugs is a well-known problem and is difficult to detect unless pesticide treatments are not working.
- If you hire a professional pest management company to treat the home (walls, floors, voids), these guidelines can be used to avoid throwing away your belongings.
For any and all pesticide use, it is critical that you read and follow the product label. Not only do label instructions represent federal law (and failure to follow them is thus a violation of the law), but the specifications for use are designed to maximize their efficacy. Using more than the label rate may be dangerous and could reduce product efficacy. More is not better. Read the label.
Source: Rutgers Extension Publication