Vikane Gas Fumigant Available as Bed Bug Treatment Option

INDIANAPOLIS – It’s no secret – bed bugs, nearly eliminated as a common pest, have recently been reappearing across the United States. Property owners or managers, travelers, and others have been contacting pest management professionals in record numbers, and they, in turn, are educating themselves about this elusive pest and the various treatment options available.

Bed bugs are exceptionally challenging to treat because they can be widely dispersed throughout a structure, infesting tiny cracks and crevices the thickness of a business card; and there is an extremely high risk of resurgence if all bed bugs are not killed by a treatment.

Dow Agrosciences announces that whole-structure or chamber fumigation using Vikane® gas fumigant can treat bed bugs in a structure or in any household items including furnishings, mattresses and bedding. Vikane gas fumigant will eliminate bed bugs, even those that cannot be found through inspection, because the fumigant penetrates cracks and crevices to kill bed bugs wherever they hide, according to Dow

Traditionally used for the treatment of drywood termites, Vikane is also labeled for bed bug fumigations. In order to have a successful bed bug fumigation, three times the dosage rate of Vikane used for drywood termites is prescribed on the label.

Scott Crowley, technical director at Lloyd Termite Control in California, has been involved in the planning of numerous bed bug fumigations with Vikane® gas fumigant in recent years, many - of them for large-scale, commercial buildings.

“We have recommended fumigation with Vikane on several extensive bed bug infestations where we felt that conventional treatment strategies could not bring a resolution to the problem quickly enough,” Crowley explains.

Crowley recommends inspecting all personal belongings that may have been involved in the transference of bedbugs, as well as proper laundering of bedding and clothing which may have been exposed. Many of these items may be fumigated in the structure as well, such as suit cases, travel bags, and clothing. This prevents a re-infestation caused by “hitchhiking” bed bugs that may have been clinging to luggage or clothing.

Whole-structure fumigation with Vikane is recommended as a treatment method for bed bugs when immediate eradication is required, such as with residences, apartment buildings, dormitories, hotels, cruise ships; if the occupants of a structure have severe allergic reactions to bed bug bites; when repeated crack and crevice applications fail to control the infestation; or if other residual treatments may damage infested materials. Chamber fumigation with Vikane is recommended as a treatment method for bed bugs when complete eradication is required within furniture or household items, such as mattresses and bedding.

For more information on fumigation with Vikane® gas fumigant visit www.TermiteTenting.com.