The Methods Section

This week the EPA launched a “Bed Bug Information” site.  I couldn’t help but post about this resource – after all, I reviewed a book with included quite the history on these little pests.

Actually, the page is more of an information/ web portal site than a database.  There are some excellent photographic examples of bed bugs and how to spot them.  The site also explains how to avoid an infestation and how to best deal with one if its already too late.

Did you know there was a National Bed Bug Summit in 2009? Of course you did, but for those missed out, the EPA is planning another one for 2010.  Dates have yet to be announced, but the summit will most likely be in or around the D.C. area.  Politicians and government officials will debate the EPA’s controversial 2007 decision to ban certain pesticides used to eliminate and prevent bed bug infestations.  Environmental groups are pushing for the ban to remain in effect, but many believe the rise in the bed bug population is directly linked to the ban.

While the EPA’s summit will focus on pesticide regulations and other political issues, another bed bug summit was recently held that catered to those affected by the bed bug resurgence.  Hotel owners, office managers, and custodial personnel attended the Bed  Bug University North American Summit in Chicago, IL this past September.  Chicago was listed as one of the top five cities with the most bed bug infestations in a recent Terminix survey.  New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Cincinnati were also on the list.

So are YOU at risk? Bed bugs have been found living in mattresses, airline seating, department store furniture, and even electrical outlets.  There is certainly a chance that you could be exposed to bed bugs when using any sort of public furniture, including hotel beds.  However, the main thing to remember is that while bed bugs are disgusting, they have never been shown to cause disease.

A bed bug... GROSS

Nobody wants to be a sleeping buffet for these insects, but unlike many of their other blood sucking cousins, they do not spread disease.

Still, next time I stay in a hotel you better believe I’ll be lifting up the mattress…

2,500 square miles of ocean… at least 200,000  gallons continuing to pour out each day… containment costs at over $6 million dollars per day…

These numbers cannot even begin to describe the enormity of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  Now, however, thanks to Paul Rademacher and Google Earth, anyone can view the oil spill in relation to their own location.  Visitors can use the website to transpose an image of the spill over any place in the world.  What a fabulous use of Google Earth; this type of visualization is better than any analogy I’ve heard on the news (“It’s the size of Jamaica!”)

Here is a look from my location: Chicago, IL.  Yeah… that’s big.