In October, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that it would classify total release foggers (“TRFs” or “bug bombs”) as restricted-use products available only to professionals. We applauded that move, which followed a CDC study on the illnesses and injuries caused by TRFs, in large part because TRFs are inappropriate products to use by consumers in the control of bed bug infestations. They make infestations more difficult to control, dispersing bed bugs to scattered harborage sites and walls and increasing the likelihood that an infestation will spread to adjacent locations.
In calls yesterday to DEC and the New York State Department of Health, I learned that DEC is now seeking data from product registrants and “actively talking to their associations” and is considering actions that would fall short of taking TRFs off the shelves. DEC has received communications from unnamed groups “begging” them not to restrict total release foggers because “people will not have anything to use for roaches and bed bugs.”
All of the individuals I spoke to at the Department of Health and at DEC asked me not to identify them. Even though, in a perverse catch-22, their press offices will never return my calls because I am not a journalist, I feel obligated to honor these requests, but I do so with the sad certainty that no journalist will be interested in this as I am.
Not only are the bed bugs winning, they now have synergistic lobbying positions.
The DEC’s October press release was full of resolve:
“The CDC report has shone a spotlight on foggers,” Commissioner Grannis said. “Over the past year, DEC has been in discussions with the New York State Department of Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene regarding the problems with these products. Fortunately, we have the authority to address these hazards and protect New Yorkers.”
Perhaps. But not the will. Emphasis added.
These pages may be of related interest:
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