Dear Folks,
I’ve copied & pasted these questions and my responses for the benefit of others as well.
See my comments & responses(R) to your questions(Q) here below:
Dear Mr. Bello-
I had a few questions about DDVP that I was hoping you might be able to answer. I know you
(Note that this is an incomplete sentence so I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here???)
To give you a little insight into my situation- I recently found a few bedbugs in the apartment I am currently renting. I am not sure how long they have been present- my However, I have to move into my college dorm in roughly a week for the start of the school year- likely from a couch that my roommate borrowed from a friend. As such, my concerns are primarily restricted to protecting my belongings (thankfully, there aren\'t too many, as I am a college student) and preventing them from moving with me.
R: OK, this is do-able !
I have already encased my mattress and boxspring, cleaned my bedframe and placed interceptors underneath it, and washed all of my clothes in an industrial washer/dryer and placed them away from the apartment. My plan right now is to wash/dry all clothes again when I move, and to seal up everything that I can\'t put in the dryer in tubs with DDVP.
R: OK. This may or may not be necessary.
My questions are:
1) Would you recommend using the Hot Shot Mattress Kit to treat my mattress? It seems like it would be convenient to have a container that is specifically designed for the mattress, instead of trying to rig something up. I plan on placing a new encasement on the mattress when I move- I just want to be thorough. I will not be bringing the boxspring with me; it is broken anyways and I was planning to get a new one before any of this happened.
R: If there are no bed bugs present then we do not need to treat the mattress. Note that the product you’re asking about is basically a large plastic bag into which the mattress or box spring is placed along with a pest strip. It does work when used correctly. However, if you’ve been thorough we’d eexpect that there’d be no bed bugs left to kill. And, if any were possibly missed, you can address this concern via the installation of a suitable bed bug tested encasement.
2) I have heard that DDVP can degrade electronics. Should I be concerned about this during my storage, and is there a maximum length of time that I can safely store the electronics w/ the Nuvan? From what I understand, this is an unlikely risk w/ the amount of DDVP I will be using (Nuvan 16 mg strips), but I wanted to get your thoughts on the matter.
R: “Degrade electronics”??? Uh, er, not so much. I suppose you might be able to eventually ruin electronic components by soaking them in a liquid solution or concentrate but that is an extreme circumstance which is unavailable to you. However, there is little, if any, such concerns when these strips are used in accordance with label directions.
3) Do I need to be concerned about any potential DDVP left on items which will be touching food? I am not taking any food with me, but I have some things like coffee makers, rice cookers, etc. which I would like to save if possible. I understand that DDVP does not leave much residue, but from what I have been reading about the product on the UN\'s Food and Agriculture organization about the product, there are some residual levels.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5042e/x5042e0f.htm
R: Hmmm . . . this AI (active ingredient) is readily degraded in the presence of water via a process called hydrolysis. As such, if you have any such concerns you can simply wash or rinse any surfaces in question.
4) I do not think that I have any in my car (and have been taking precautions to keep from bringing them there- showering and putting on clean clothes and shoes before I enter the vehicle), but I am planning on using DDVP just to be sure. Do you think that I am better off using strips for this, or using the Nuvan directed spray? If I do go with the strips, I would likely seal up doors and windows with masking tape, and place a small fan inside to keep circulation going. I do live in a hot part of the country, would this reduce the effectiveness of the strips?
R: The NDSA is a “Pro Only” type product. Again, if there are no bugs in your car, you need not apply pesticides to kill bugs that do not exist. If you do decide to treat using pest strips then, unless your car is not in good condition, you likely need not seal with tape. The use of a small electric fan to circulate or gently stir the air is beneficial to assure that the treatment vapors are sufficiently delivered to hidden areas.
(Additionally, please remember that you can use a vacuum and/or steamer to eliminate bed bugs immediately and without having to apply insecticides. By being very thorough you can eliminate scores of bed bugs via this methodology.)
Thank you so much for your help- I, along with everyone else on this site, appreciate all the work you do to provide us with quality information.
R: OK. Please note that I’m happy to do so when I have the time as, in my view, there seems to be a never ending supply of misinformation provided to the general public such that folks can benefit from correct, practical and viable information in response to their queries.
Now, get to school, be careful, don’t over worry about bed bugs, focus on your classwork and get good grades which, I promise, will pay off for you in the long run ! ! !
Good luck,
pjb