[Admin note: Lou posted the response below to a spammer called "marytrue." Her posts were deleted, but we wanted to restore Lou's informative response to some of the misinformation contained in the spam posts.]
marytrue:Gee, Marytrue, how long have you been married to your husband and didn't know he spoke Spanish? Sounds like an ad for DE. This thread is one year old.
I was constantly searching high and low for that 'doggone mosquito' that was tearing me and g-baby up. Then one day the hubby looked at my arm and said, "what's that been biting on you?" I responded, "I told you there's a mosquito somewhere in that house that keeps biting m; and I can't seem to catch him to save my life!" He looked again and he said, "chinches." Chinches? What's that? "Bed bugs" he responded. Where? On me?? Where they come from? Then I remembered the trip we had just taken to attend his brother's funeral. We stayed in a huge casino hotel. But, I still wasn't convinced. I had heard about it, but naw... "How you know it's bed bugs biting me?" I asked. "Cause, they been tearing my a-- up too," he responded. Well how you know it's bed bugs; can you see them? I'm so city y'all. Silly me. He said, "yep, I been killing them." Now he's really got my attention!
DE: It’s an all natural, non-toxic barrier to bed bugs that can both kill them and prevent them from moving freely throughout your house. Diatomaceous earth alone will not be enough to treat your bed bug infestation. By heat treatment I mean wash your bedding, clothing, and throw pillows in hot, hot water and dry them on high heat. It’s also non-toxic and safe to handle, and is even used for deworming pets. It can also act as a physical barrier to bed bugs, meaning that they will avoid crawling through it. You may want to wear a dust mask when spreading DE because getting any fine particulate matter in your lungs is not a good idea. To reduce the risk of inhaling dangerous particles make sure that the Diatomaceous Earth you are using is pesticide grade, NOT pool grade, and that it is just Diatomaceous EarthMust be an ad because you don't really know the facts. Food grade DE is a product that is eaten as is done for deworming. The way that it is used for bed bug control is by spreading it around, so it is an inhalation hazard. Heat treatment and use of DE or other dessicant really refers to heating up rooms. Use of a dust mask is important during application, but if you advocate excessive use of it to create a physical barrier, then one should constantly wear the dust mask when living in the home. Also excessive use to create barriers to cause bed bugs to move away and not come to you to feed negates the insecticidal use if they are repelled and causes them to go elsewhere and harbor, to places that they might not ordinarily go. Particulate matter and DE is really a problem due to the (low, naturally occurring) crystalline components of DE, but with inhalation of large amounts of DE, there is a higher proportion of crystalline components and could lead to a medical condition called silicosis, something analogous to that which causes asbestosis (crystalline asbestos). Pool grade DE has much higher amounts of crystalline DE and this type of DE actually has no pesticidal action.