High-Temperature Steam Spraying Can Eliminate Bedbugs
Use a Styler or High-Temperature Dryer for Clothes After Going Out
As bedbugs have appeared across the country, citizens are making efforts to reduce outdoor activities and manage their clothing as part of personal quarantine measures. However, some of the quarantine information shared online is either completely incorrect or involves methods harmful to the human body, requiring caution.
As reports of bedbugs continued nationwide, the government decided to operate the "National Bedbug Joint Situation Board." On the 7th, a bedbug-related promotional poster was put up in Yeongdeungpo jjokbangchon, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@
Citizens are trying to minimize bedbug damage in their own ways. Han (30, female), who booked a hotel for a 'hokangseu' (hotel vacation) in Seoul, is considering canceling her reservation. Han said, "Since many people come and go, I think the risk of exposure to bedbugs is high." Ahn (27, female) shakes off her clothes before entering her home after going out. Having heard that high temperatures are effective in killing bedbugs, she uses a Styler for her outerwear and runs other clothes through a dryer. Ahn said, "I never sit on fabric-covered subway seats."
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency classifies bedbug control methods into two categories: physical and chemical. Physical methods applicable in daily life include ▲spraying steam heat into furniture and wall crevices where bedbugs reside ▲removal using vacuum suction ▲treating contaminated fabrics in a dryer at 50?60 degrees Celsius for more than 30 minutes. Chemical methods involve insecticide spraying.
On social media platform X (formerly Twitter), methods for bedbug extermination such as the harmful "diatomaceous earth powder method" and the baseless "using natural predator cockroaches method" were being shared.
However, there is also a considerable amount of incorrect or harmful control information that should never be implemented. A representative dangerous claim is that sprinkling diatomaceous earth powder will eliminate bedbugs. Yang Young-cheol, a professor in the Department of Health, Safety, and Environment at Eulji University, emphasized, "Control methods must be effective and safe for humans. Diatomaceous earth is definitely harmful if it enters the human body. If a person inhales diatomaceous earth powder, it can cause silicosis (a disease where dust such as silica accumulates in the lungs causing scarring), so it should not be purchased and sprinkled indoors."
Claims such as 'cockroaches are natural enemies of bedbugs' or 'just placing cinnamon or herbs around will work' are also incorrect. Lee Dong-gyu, a professor in the Department of Health and Environment at Kosin University, said, "Cinnamon is used as a mosquito repellent but has not been proven effective against bedbugs," adding, "The same goes for herbs." Professor Yang explained the 'cockroach natural enemy theory' as "baseless," stating, "Bedbugs and cockroaches are not hierarchical insects, and their habitats differ?bedbugs live in beds, while cockroaches live in kitchens."
Experts suggested that, along with sharing accurate information to prevent public anxiety, research necessary for bedbug control should be conducted promptly. Professor Lee said, "The bedbugs recently introduced from overseas are Cimex hemipterus, which do not exist in Korea. The resistance to insecticides varies depending on which insecticides were used in the countries where the bedbugs were introduced," adding, "The government currently believes these bedbugs are resistant to pyrethroid insecticides, but it should quickly verify whether they also show resistance to other classes of insecticides such as organophosphates and carbamates and utilize this information for control."
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