The Red, White, and Green

Sleep tight…don’t let the bed bugs bite! In recent history, this has been all but a cute bedtime refrain of my grandparents on the occasion they tucked me into bed; most of us don’t really think about the true origin of the phrase, from the time when mattresses were made out of organic materials like straw and rope that tended to attract actual bugs. That has changed, however, much to the chagrin of the American public, who are discovering the miniscule blood-sucking critters everywhere from cellphones to five-star hotel bathtubs.

One possible explanation for the resurgence of bed bugs after 20 years of virtual extinction is the ban of powerful but environmentally detrimental chemicals that were effective at keeping the bed bug population in check. 

To address the issue – ”the most difficult, challenging pest problem of our generation,” according to entomologist Mike Potter — the EPA hosted its first-ever bed-bug summit on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully whatever solutions were discussed don’t involve the re-emergence of dangerous insecticides like DDT.

Read the full story here.

–Jennifer Grayson

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