MET COUNCIL FACT SHEET

Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite! Bedbugs in Apartments

Bedbugs, the biting insects that have been driving sleepers crazy for hundreds of years, have made something of a comeback in New York and other places around the country after having been chased out by the heavy use of DDT. A Google search on bedbugs reveals a story in an Australian newspaper about a Mexican business traveler who was severely bitten while staying at the ritzy Helmsley Park Lane Hotel in New York. In fact, during medieval times, bedbugs were a mark of distinction, as only rich households had them. Bedbugs like warm environments and nice beds, and since most people then were peasants who slept in unheated shacks on piles of straw, only the rich were infested.

Today bedbugs can infest any bedroom, rich or poor, and hygiene has little to do with the problem. Bedbugs (Cimex lectularius linnaeus) are small (1/3 to 1/4 inches long), brownish, and wingless insects. They hide in the mattress or bed during the day and come out at night to bite while the person is sleeping. While biting, they inject special saliva into their victims to keep the blood from coagulating. This is what creates the itching bite on the skin. The bugs turn reddish and get larger after they have fed on blood. Bedbugs are spread when luggage, clothing, or bedding is taken from an infested area to a new place. The bugs hide at first in the bedding of their new home, but can later move to the floors, walls, and other furniture. They are hard to get rid of because they can go over 100 days without a meal, and they are good at hiding during the day. They look for out-of-the-way cracks and clothing folds, and hide in electrical outlets and wiring conduits, under wallpaper and in unused furniture. So merely getting rid of infested furniture and bedding won't always solve the problem.

How to rid an apartment of bedbugs

The New York State Integrated Pest Management Program recommends three steps: Find their hiding places, clean those places thoroughly, and then make it hard for the bugs to get back in. As part of cleaning the hiding places, the IPM program recommends washing all bedding, rugs, and clothes in hot water, and drying them in a hot dryer to kill bugs living in these materials. Carefully clean or vacuum all surfaces in the room and all items that can't be washed. To prevent the return of bugs, seal all cracks, crevices, and openings around pipes or electrical conduits.
If you are considering using insecticides, both the state IPM program and the city Department of Health warn that they are highly toxic chemicals, so tenants should educate themselves on the particular product before using it. This is particularly important when trying to eradicate bedbugs, as people-especially children, who are most susceptible to toxins-spend a lot of time in bedrooms and in bed. For information about insecticide components and their dangers, look at Web sites like the Children's Health Environmental Coalition (www.checnet.org) or the Natural Resources Defense Council (www.nrdc.org).

To minimize exposure to toxic pesticides or avoid them altogether, the University of California's Integrated Pest Management Program recommends alternate methods of getting rid of bedbugs: "Stand the legs of beds in soapy water, coating the legs with petroleum jelly or double-sided sticky tape. Bedbugs cannot climb polished glass or metal easily and they don't fly, so the legs of beds can also be placed inside glass jars or metal cans. Heating to 97° to 99°F will kill most bedbugs, as will temperatures below 48°F."

Tenants' Rights: Apartment Buildings and Hotels
Obviously, multiple dwellings offer bedbugs the perfect environment, since the bugs can hide in the walls while one unit is cleaned and then appear in another, or return to reinfest the original room or apartment. Hotels traditionally have had difficulty removing bedbugs, because bedding is often carried from one room to another, and while one infested unit might be cleaned, it's rare for the entire hotel to be shut down so all the rooms can be fumigated.

For tenants in New York, the right to a bedbug-free environment derives from the city's housing and maintenance code-which specifically names bedbugs, along with a number of other unpleasant pests. The landlord has an obligation to eradicate the infestation and to keep the units from getting reinfested. If your landlord refuses to take the necessary steps, you can file a complaint with the city department of Housing Preservation and Development (call 311) or take the owner to Housing Court in an HP action. As with any problem you have concerning repairs or services, it is important to notify the landlord of the condition in writing (send by certified mail, return receipt requested, and save a copy) and to let the owner and manager know what steps you expect them to take.

For more information:
New York City Department of Health, Call 311 and ask for the Health Department or go to the Health Department fact sheet on bedbugs.

New York State Integrated Pest Management Program, (800) 635-8356 or go to the state's fact sheet on bedbugs.

University of California Integrated Pest Management