| | Reports exist, clinical and anecdotal, of past use of fumigation with sulfur dioxide (such as through the use of sulfur candle) showing that it was a highly effective method against bedbugs.<ref>http://thebedbugresource.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=623</ref> In the late 1930 to the mid 1940s it was used in the United Kingdom to fumigate entire homes, and it is reported to have helped reduce infestations by up to 80% in one town under study.<ref>Busvine J.R. 1964. Medical Entomology in Britain. Ann. of App. Biol. 53: 190-199</ref> | | Reports exist, clinical and anecdotal, of past use of fumigation with sulfur dioxide (such as through the use of sulfur candle) showing that it was a highly effective method against bedbugs.<ref>http://thebedbugresource.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=623</ref> In the late 1930 to the mid 1940s it was used in the United Kingdom to fumigate entire homes, and it is reported to have helped reduce infestations by up to 80% in one town under study.<ref>Busvine J.R. 1964. Medical Entomology in Britain. Ann. of App. Biol. 53: 190-199</ref> |
| − | However, it is no longer legal to sell for consumer use in homes, although it may be used in greenhouses and possibly by professional exterminators in some cases, as it is dangerous to use due to the poisonous and suffocating vapors of the sulfur dioxide gas, while its chemical action on metals and coloring fabrics may leave undesirable effects.<ref>[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CF4QFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fpmc%2Farticles%2FPMC2218860%2Fpdf%2Fjapha00004-0001b.pdf&ei=_7fkTMOcM4X7lwfpgvC1Cw&usg=AFQjCNG9DYw3T_grq4d_oLBTX7x-Wi0yTA&sig2=IawKCwC3s8zx6H7WlD9T3A Journal of the American Public Health Association,[ p. 232, April, 1911</ref> Factors adversely affecting its effectiveness include the difficulty in penetrating all haborages, the higher resistance of eggs to the fumigant, while starvation and cold enhances the resistance of all bedbugs.<ref>http://newyorkvsbedbugs.org/2009/06/15/the-challenges-in-1941</ref> To be efficient it must burn rapidly, and some studies report it is not always successful. More clinical studies are needed in order to ascertain its effectiveness and the best manner of treatment. <ref>[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744-7348.1940.tb07481.x/abstract H. C. Gough, ''The toxicity of sulphur dioxide to the bed-bug Cimex Lectularius L.'']</ref> | + | However, it is no longer legal to sell for consumer use in homes, although it may be used in greenhouses and possibly by professional exterminators in some cases, as it is dangerous to use due to the poisonous and suffocating vapors of the sulfur dioxide gas, while its chemical action on metals and coloring fabrics may leave undesirable effects.<ref>[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CF4QFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fpmc%2Farticles%2FPMC2218860%2Fpdf%2Fjapha00004-0001b.pdf&ei=_7fkTMOcM4X7lwfpgvC1Cw&usg=AFQjCNG9DYw3T_grq4d_oLBTX7x-Wi0yTA&sig2=IawKCwC3s8zx6H7WlD9T3A Journal of the American Public Health Association,] p. 232, April, 1911</ref> Factors adversely affecting its effectiveness include the difficulty in penetrating all haborages, the higher resistance of eggs to the fumigant, while starvation and cold enhances the resistance of all bedbugs.<ref>http://newyorkvsbedbugs.org/2009/06/15/the-challenges-in-1941</ref> To be efficient it must burn rapidly, and some studies report it is not always successful. More clinical studies are needed in order to ascertain its effectiveness and the best manner of treatment. <ref>[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744-7348.1940.tb07481.x/abstract H. C. Gough, ''The toxicity of sulphur dioxide to the bed-bug Cimex Lectularius L.'']</ref> |