Pest Management Professional, June 2014
INSURANCE CONTRACTS HEAT SPRAY TRAINING ENCASE SECTION BU TRAP SPECIAL PRICING BED G ISOLATE VACUUM FUMIGATE DETECT STEAM FREEZE EXCLUDE MONITOR COMMUNICATION COOPERATION Human health Photo istock com jaminwell key Pesticide stewardship is T he growing number of infestations of bed bugs Cimex lectularius worldwide likely will bring a proportionately greater risk of pesticide poisoning The Atlanta based U S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC analyzed data from the Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks SENSOR Pesticides program and its clear increasing misuse of pesticides is a concern In September 2011 the CDC released its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report which is derived from a national database of injuries and occupational hazards reported by state public health officials and poison control offices From 2003 to 2010 the SENSOR Pesticides program and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene collected reports of bed bugcontrol poisoning in seven states California Florida Michigan North Carolina New York Texas and Washington They identified 111 injuries or poisonings Patrick Mahoney Contributor of which 90 were classified as low severity while one resulted in a fatality Pyrethroids pyrethrins or both were involved in 99 of the cases including the only fatality reported in the 8 year period The numbers however hardly reflect the actual number of mishaps The good news is only two cases involved professional licensed pesticide applicators One case involved an unlicensed applicator The vast majority 97 percent was attributed to people attempting to handle pest control on their own often ignoring basic safety and application instructions The most common contributing factors for insecticiderelated poisonings were excessive application failure to wash or change treated bedding and insufficient notification before application To qualify as an acute illness the reports had to detail two or more serious side effects resulting from exposure to insecticide used for controlling bed bugs The cases were categorized as definite probable possible and suspicious based on certainty of exposure reported symptoms and consistency of those symptoms with known toxicology The majority of cases 73 percent occurred between 2008 and 2010 a period of expanding bed bug media coverage Eighty one percent of cases were categorized as low severity The majority of cases 93 percent occurred at private residences and 40 percent happened in multiunit housing New York City reported 58 percent of the total In 39 percent of cases applications were made by occupants who werent certified Continued on page BB7 BB5 June 2014 Pest Management Professional www mypmp net
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