Propoxur to Fight Bed Bugs?

I recently read that 25 states are petitioning the EPA to allow use of Propoxur against the bed bug epidemic.

According to the EPA who last had the funds available to release information about Propoxur in 2000, one study showed a chronic feeding study of propoxur in rats, tumors of the bladder and the uterus were observed at high doses. According the EPA’s 2000 data, no studies have been done to see if it causes birth defects or cancer in humans.  So if you or your landlord were to sprinkle propoxur all over your bed for bed bugs, not only would you be inviting you and your family to be guinea pigs in some case control study 15 years down the road, but the bed bugs would be back. Why? Because like other pests, they reproduce at a far higher rate than we do and within a few generations of natural selection (in a month) the  population in your apartment is far more resistant. Meanwhile, you and your children are not. But as long as you don’t immediately die, then it’s safe right?

When asked about treating bed bugs, “an agency spokesman, Dale Kemery, said the EPA has pledged to find new, potent chemicals to kill bedbugs, which can cause itchy, red bites that can become infected if scratched.”

Give me a break. Yes, bed bugs are a nuisance. And they are hard to kill with chemicals. But they are EASY TO KILL WITH HEAT! Bed bugs and their eggs permanently die at temperatures of 130 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. And natural selection has nothing on 100% extermination, guaranteed.

So – if I were head of the EPA, I would send that spokesperson to a basic Bed Bug workshop where he’d learn that many reputable pest control companies offer a heat treatment. They bring in a big machine and jack up the temperature of your apartment to 130 degrees. All the bed bugs and eggs die and never come back unless a fresh bed bug comes in from the outside world (or your apartment neighbor if your landlord didn’t exterminate all infested units in the building.) It can be expensive, but it’s far cheaper than trying with the chemical treatment several times unsuccessfully and then having to get the heat treatment anyway. Not to mention less of a headache.