Comments on: The New York City Council tries again: a new bed bug bill

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:42:23 +0000

Hi Ugo, thanks for your comment. I’m confident that any landlord/property manager training is in non-pesticide application bed bug management. To do otherwise would be against the law, as you mention.

DEC is a state regulator not under the jurisdiction of NYC. However, it would be good to see DEC add specific bed bug management courses, but, again, they’re a state agency and this is a NYC Council hearing. We have to take care of the problem in our city whether or not we get assistance from others or from the state. It’s up to us and we can’t wait for things that might be good but are certainly not happening and that we cannot control. We need our own plan with control components that we can set in motion ourselves.

We believe that the Health Department is the appropriate NYC agency to lead a coordinated effort to control the spread of bed bugs in New York City. A strategy involving all relevant city agencies would be best, of course, and the consultation of entomologists and urban pest management folks is absolutely key. This last part is what worries us the most, actually.

By: Ugo Voso

Ugo Voso — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:59:05 +0000

Hello,
I am a pmp with 13 years experience. I will try to make it to the hearing. Some fixes are in order. Here are some points I will try to make:
A. The landlord / superintendent training should be limited to bedding, sofa bed and furniture disposal procedures and how to perform exclusionary repairs to cracks and crevices to keep infestations from moving to adjacent apartments. In order to apply pesticides outside of there own unit/apartment, one must be a certified pest control applicator licensed by the D.E.C. (department of environmental conservation).
B. The bedbug training for pest control applicators should also include the exclusionary techniques so they may offer this additional service to the building management. An applicator should already be certified in either category 7A (structural) and/or 8 (public health).
C. All used bedding should be placed in a sealed storage bag while awaiting trash pickup using a special 311 call.
A big cause of new infestations occurs when new bedding is delivered and the old bedding gets removed. The furniture or mattress vendor offers a free removal of the old mattress, sofa bed and bed frames etc… What happens is an old infested bed gets placed in the back of the truck alongside new mattresses on route to additional deliveries. The bedbugs shake off the old mattress and hitch onto the new mattresses. The plastic encasement on the new mattress is insufficient to exclude the invaders since it still has many places where the bedbugs enter and hide.
Thus, comingling of new and used mattresses should be prohibited. The vendor should make seperate route for used mattress pick-ups. If this is not possible the department of sanitation shall dispose/incinerate all old bedding. The landlord /superintendent shall render the bedding unuseable by cutting it up or slashing. Fines should be levied in the even the bedding is placed outside while still in a useable condition. (The same way a landlord must remove the doors to an old refrigerator subject to a fine if not performed).
All truck beds used by furniture and mattress vendors should be periodically fumigated by a licensed pest control applicator. A sticker placed in the bed will serve as proof to a D.E.C. official who will be able to pull over any mattress/furniture delivery truck during a “spot check”. Fines are to be levied in the event used bedding is found with new mattresses in the same cargo area.
D. The governing agency should be the D.E.C. as they now train, license, certify and regulate pesticides. A special bedbug category could be added to the license identifying those who attend the training course. Periodic training credits would need to be performed to keep up with state of the art innovations. Those up to date will remain on the 311 contact database.
E. The term “exterminator” has been in disuse for over a decade and should be replaced with “pesticide applicator” or “pest management professional”.

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:43:04 +0000

Renee agrees, Melvin!

I’m sorry you’re not getting any responses to your questions except from me. Now you know how I feel. But you know, if we post our comments on this page: http://newyorkvsbedbugs.org/nyc-council-intro-873/ maybe they will be more likely to be seen.

This is an under-reported problem. We don’t hear stories of NYC consumer complaints — about mattresses for example. I’m going to say that I will try to research it, but in all honesty I’m swamped and it won’t be soon.

By: Melvin

Melvin — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:03:45 +0000

Does Renee or anyone else agree that the Department of Consumer Affairs ,or another government agency,should take action to prevent merchants from selling infested merchandise?

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:25:48 +0000

Hi Melvin, thanks for your comment. Happy New Year to you.

I don’t quite agree with you about pest control providers and this bill. I’ve already heard from a PMP who does not like the bill.

By: Melvin

Melvin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:57:47 +0000

I feel that the Department of Consumer Affairs should be included in the proposed legislation.Inspectors should be trained to identify infestation in stores, moving trucks, and other places that result in bedugs infesting apartment houses ,as well as ,private homes.There should be penalties for merchants failing to prevent and/or eradicate the spread of bed bugs emanating from their premises.

If the city trains exterminators in techniqes for bed bug elimination,it will encourage exterminators to demand even more money for their already high priced services.Exterminators will be the ones who will profit the most from the proposed legislation in its present form.

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:22:07 +0000

Hi Melvin-

I believe the Dept of Consumer Affairs would handle something like that (complaints about bedbugged mattresses and furniture). In the 2006 hearing I think they said they did not receive many complaints about bed bugs and mattresses. I will try to find out more about the DCA’s process. Of course, if there were a city bed bug hotline, then people would have one number to call for all bed bug-related questions.

Do you know anyone who has bought infested furniture? Were they not able to file a complaint?

By: Melvin

Melvin — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 21:29:50 +0000

The bill addresses the problem of bed bug infestation after it has already occurred.I have suggestions on how the city can help prevent bed bug infestation from occurring in the first place, as follows:1)The city should set up a hot line where consumers can report the names of stores and merchants from which the consumers unknowingly purchased merchandise that was infested with bed bugs.2)The city should investigate all consumer complaints,and issue a summons in all cases of valid consumer complaint.
Hopefully other people visiting this website will have additional suggestions on how to amend the bill to include prevention and/0r
other issues regarding bed bug infestation

By: Renee Corea

Renee Corea — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:43:38 +0000

Hi Melvin, That's a good point. I think the current thought on the health effects of bed bugs might be summarized in the following from the Toronto Public Health fact sheet on bed bugs for medical professionals:

Infestations, however, can cause anxiety, secondary infections, allergic reactions and financial hardship.

And yet, that doesn't really describe what the experience of bed bugs is like for people who are already ill. Or those who fall into severe depression. Or those who develop a form of post-traumatic stress disorder. When people who have bed bugs feel under attack, it's because they are being attacked. Add to this the social isolation, the hopelessness that develops when an infestation drags on or recurs, and I think the just thing to say is that bed bugs cause real suffering. If the epidemic grows, then I think we'll see research on the health consequences, including especially the mental health effects.

By: Melvin

Melvin — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:14:29 +0000

A possible reason for the city not taking the increase of bed bug infestation seriously is that physicians do not seem to regard insect bites as a serious medical problem.I have not heard or read anything from mental health professionals regarding an emotional component to the problem.