Don't worry, everyone: the EPA is all over this bedbugs thing. Apparently, due to a recent rise in bedbug complaints to city information lines (not just hotel bedbugs, but infestations of apartments, hospitals and dorms too), officials have concluded that there has been a recent worldwide resurgence of the bloodfeeders — the first one since they were "last seen in great numbers prior to World War II. And the little buggers need to be dealt with.
According to an AP report, the folks at the Environmental Protection Agency have decided to put some heads together to do something about the issue: the EPA is hosting its first-ever bedbug summit, set to take place today and tomorrow. Explaining the current creature comeback:
One of the problems, according to researchers and the pesticide industry, is that there are few chemicals on the market approved for use on mattresses that are effective at reducing bedbug numbers.
The EPA, out of concern for the environment and the effects on public health, has pulled many of the chemicals that were most effective in eradicating the bugs from the U.S. over the last 50 years — such as DDT — off of shelves.
Apparently, the ultimate goal of the summit is to come up with solutions to help better equip hotel owners, apartment tenants or building managers with tools and methods to exterminate the things.
The summit's happening at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, VA — which, the article notes, "has had no reported bedbug problems."
[Photo: Tapirback]
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