Got Bed Bugs? (updated)

File the following in the “for a work friend” category of blog posts. The TL;DR of dealing with bed bugs is this:

1. bag your bed
2. use a clothes dryer
3. simplify and declutter your space
4. vacuum
5. apply diatomaceous earth (be careful. follow safety guidelines!!)
6. Use steam

Let’s imagine that your friend, who works with you but in a different building, has discovered a bed bug infestation in their work space. And, let’s imagine that the employer is reluctant to put out any communication about it to anyone but the people who are immediately impacted by the infestation (for now, anyways).

I’m no expert on bed bugs, but there are experts out there, including Dr. Changlu Wang at Rutgers University. Dr. Wang has helpfully put out some useful tips about bed bugs and on effective treatments here.

Maybe print out Dr. Wang’s handy PDF for your colleagues to read, in and around your office space.

For those of you who like videos, Mark Rober has posted a very informative and entertaining video on bed bugs. I think that it’s absolutely worthy of some eyeball time.

Here is the video:

Finally, there are current news articles on bed bugs via many outlets, including the Ottawa Citizen, as well as informative pages at Health Canada and the US EPA. The reality is that bedbugs are a problem, they can be found in office spaces, and it takes concerted, evidence based approaches to deal with them effectively.

Conclusion

I’m not a bed bug expert. I just don’t like them. The video posted here and the research pages from Dr. Wang appear to align with best practices posted elsewhere, so they can be worthy of examination in you or your work colleagues have discovered bed bugs in the workplace. If your employer is not being active enough in eliminating bed bugs or is using techniques that don’t align with best practices that have been mentioned here or elsewhere, then perhaps these resources will be helpful to you to get the employer to do better.

References

• Health Canada page on bedbugs
• United States EPA page on bedbugs
• Ottawa Citizen article on bedbugs in federal government buildings.

Updates

Nov. 6, 2024: added the links to Health Canada’s “Bedbugs: How do I prevent an Infestation?” page and to the US EPA page on bed bugs, as well as general news links and one to the Ottawa Citizen.

---

James Andrew Smith is a Professional Engineer and Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of York University’s Lassonde School, with degrees in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta and McGill University.  Previously a program director in biomedical engineering, his research background spans robotics, locomotion, human birth, music and engineering education. While on sabbatical in 2018-19 with his wife and kids he lived in Strasbourg, France and he taught at the INSA Strasbourg and Hochschule Karlsruhe and wrote about his personal and professional perspectives.  James is a proponent of using social media to advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion as well as evidence-based applications of research in the public sphere. You can find him on Twitter. Originally from Québec City, he now lives in Toronto, Canada.