RE: [pestlist] Bed bugs treated with diatomaceous earth

2017-09-08 Thread Louis Sorkin 

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I think the DE powder was probably sprinkled around, possibly an over 
application, and then the boxes sealed.  Do you see powder? It’s slow acting, 
but bed bug and egg dormancy period has passed well before the 10 year mark! 
Any bugs or eggs will have died. DE contains a small amount of crystalline 
silica compared to CimeXa dust where there is none – it’s all amorphous.

Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E.
Entomologist, Arachnologist, Myriapodologist
Insect Cuisine & Entomophagy Research
[cid:image001.png@01D235DF.2C8D90E0]
Division of Invertebrate Zoology|American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street|New York, New York 10024-5192
sor...@amnh.org
212-769-5613 voice | 212-769-5277 fax | 917-953-0094 local pager
http://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/louis-n.-sorkin
[cid:image002.jpg@01D328C9.5B428520]
The New York Entomological Society, Inc.
www.nyentsoc.org
n...@amnh.org
[cid:image001.png@01D110A0.A110F570]



From: pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net [mailto:pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net] On 
Behalf Of Jessica Lian Pace
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2017 2:25 PM
To: pestlist@museumpests.net
Subject: [pestlist] Bed bugs treated with diatomaceous earth

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Hello everyone,
A curator is considering bringing in an archival collection consisting of paper 
and media materials that was treated for a bed bug infestation with 
diatomaceous earth 10+ years ago.  We don't have much information on how the 
treatment was implemented.  The problems with diatomaceous earth residue on 
collections materials aside, is it an effective means of treatment?  
Information on how long bed bugs and their eggs can remain dormant and how to 
best assess the efficacy of the remediation would also be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Jessica

--
Jessica Pace

Preventive Conservator
Barbara Goldsmith Preservation and Conservation Department
NYU Libraries
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
(212) 998-2518

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RE: [pestlist] Bed bugs treated with diatomaceous earth

2017-09-08 Thread William Shepherd 

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Hello Jessica,

I can’t answer most of your questions but diatomaceous earth is 
used for passive treatment of bed bugs and other insects. They physically have 
to crawl across the sediment for it to have effect, it scratches their 
undersides and ends up killing them. Exterminators will place it around trim, 
in corners, electrical outlets, anywhere that they may be hiding. Generally in 
treatment an insecticide or other poisonous substance is used as a more active 
treatment so you may want to research the types that were used at the time of 
treatment in your area for health and safety concern for staff. There is food 
grade diatomaceous earth so it isn’t in and of itself necessarily harmful to 
you beyond irritation to eyes or lungs even if this particular usage it isn’t 
food grade. The issue would be more if it’s ground into the collections or 
related concerns.

Typical ‘waiting them out’ treatment can be up to two years. If 
they’re been sealed or isolated for the 10+ years since treatment it’s likely 
that there isn’t a concern but I would be personally very concerned as you 
sound like you might be. No good story ever started with, “So I found this bed 
bug……”.

William Shepherd
Collections Officer
Swift Current Museum
44 Robert Street West
Swift Current, Saskatchewan
S9H 4M9
Phone: 306-778-4815
Fax: 306-778-4818

From: pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net [mailto:pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net] On 
Behalf Of Jessica Lian Pace
Sent: September 8, 2017 12:25 PM
To: pestlist@museumpests.net
Subject: [pestlist] Bed bugs treated with diatomaceous earth

This is a message from the Museumpests.net  List.
To post to this list send it as an email to 
pestlist@museumpests.net
To unsubscribe look at the footer of this email.
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Hello everyone,
A curator is considering bringing in an archival collection consisting of paper 
and media materials that was treated for a bed bug infestation with 
diatomaceous earth 10+ years ago.  We don't have much information on how the 
treatment was implemented.  The problems with diatomaceous earth residue on 
collections materials aside, is it an effective means of treatment?  
Information on how long bed bugs and their eggs can remain dormant and how to 
best assess the efficacy of the remediation would also be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Jessica

--
Jessica Pace

Preventive Conservator
Barbara Goldsmith Preservation and Conservation Department
NYU Libraries
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
(212) 998-2518

-
To unsubscribe from this list send an email to
imail...@museumpests.net and in the body put:
"unsubscribe pestlist"
Any problems email l...@zaks.com





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Re: [pestlist] Bed bugs treated with diatomaceous earth

2017-09-08 Thread Pollack, Richard J 

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Jessica,


Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is not a particularly effective treatment for bed bugs. 
But, if bed bugs were actually present ten years ago, they would have long 
since perished. So there's no risk of contacting living bugs or eggs. The DE 
would pose only minimal risk. If you have a HEPA filtered vacuum, you could 
remove nearly all of it quite easily.

Richard J. Pollack, PhD
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Environmental Health, Safety and Emergency Management (EHSEM)
Senior Environmental Public Health Officer
46 Blackstone St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
Office: 617-495-2995  Cell: 617-447-0763
www.ehs.harvard.edu
richard_poll...@harvard.edu

HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Instructor, Department of Immunology & Infectious Diseases

From: pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net  on behalf 
of Jessica Lian Pace 
Sent: Friday, September 8, 2017 2:24:44 PM
To: pestlist@museumpests.net
Subject: [pestlist] Bed bugs treated with diatomaceous earth

This is a message from the Museumpests.net  List.
To post to this list send it as an email to pestlist@museumpests.net
To unsubscribe look at the footer of this email.
---
Hello everyone,

A curator is considering bringing in an archival collection consisting of paper 
and media materials that was treated for a bed bug infestation with 
diatomaceous earth 10+ years ago.  We don't have much information on how the 
treatment was implemented.  The problems with diatomaceous earth residue on 
collections materials aside, is it an effective means of treatment?  
Information on how long bed bugs and their eggs can remain dormant and how to 
best assess the efficacy of the remediation would also be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Jessica

--
Jessica Pace

Preventive Conservator
Barbara Goldsmith Preservation and Conservation Department
NYU Libraries
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
(212) 998-2518

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To unsubscribe from this list send an email to
imail...@museumpests.net and in the body put:
"unsubscribe pestlist"
Any problems email l...@zaks.com




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