Study Also Finds Engineered Heat or “Structural Pasteurization” Most Effective Treatment to
Kill Bed Bugs Plus Microbes That Cause Disease
Austin, TX, June 7, 2011 — A study¹ released today² found a scientific link demonstrating that bed bugs are capable of carrying and exposing disease to humans. The study also found that heat or structural pasteurization is the most effective treatment to kill microbial pathogens carried by bed bugs. Dr. Sean Abbott, president of Natural Link Mold Lab, one of the nation’s leading microbiologists, conducted the study over a two year period and reported the results today confirming that bed bugs are carriers of dangerous pathogens. Many of the bacteria detected naturally occur in the intestines of humans and other animals suggesting that disease organisms like E.coli and other enteric bacteria can be transmitted by bedbugs.
Dr. Abbott stated, “After careful laboratory analysis and a two-year study of bed bugs, we found that bed bugs are carrying many dangerous pathogens such as the Superbug Staph. aureus, the organism that causes serious secondary infections.”
Recently, Canadian scientists detected drug-resistant staph bacteria in bedbugs. The findings caused quite a stir in the scientific community when the admittedly small study was released May 11, 2011 by Emerging Infectious Diseases, a publication of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Today in Austin, Texas at the International Indoor Air Quality Conference, the nation’s foremost assembly of IAQ researchers and microbiologists, Dr. Abbott’s conclusions revealed that there is a solution to both the typical household pest eradication problem, such as bed bugs, and the threat of bed bugs spreading disease to humans. Structural pasteurization solves both problems simultaneously. The study, conducted by Natural Link Mold Lab, also examined the efficacy of high temperature pasteurization of buildings for reducing levels of viable bacteria in indoor environments employing both laboratory and field data.
“Evidence is mounting that bedbugs carry disease causing bacteria like ‘superbug’ Staph. aureus”, said Dr. Abbott. “The good news is that bedbugs can’t build up resistance to heat the way MRSA strains have developed resistance to antibiotics. The careful application of heat can end the threat. Properly applied filtered heat kills both bedbug adults and their eggs which have been shown to be particularly resistant to pesticides. Killing bacteria is concurrent with eradication of the bedbugs. ” he said.
“I am euphoric about this green technology which is replacing the need to applying chemicals to our indoor environment,” said David E. Hedman, co-inventor of the patented ThermaPureHeat® structural pasteurization process.”
¹ Bedbug Microbial Vector Study, Summary and Implications and Bedbug Microbial Study
Laboratory Data Report, Sean P. Abbott, Ph.D., Natural Link Mold Lab, May 20, 2011.
² Study¹ announced today by Dr. Sean P. Abbott at the International Society of Indoor Air
Quality and Climate Conference, Austin, Texas, to be published in Indoor Air, International
Journal of Indoor Environment and Health.
About Structural Pasteurization
Structural pasteurization employs engineer-controlled convective dry heat to sanitize buildings in situ, and is typically used in conjunction with structural drying and traditional microbial remediation processes. It allows for sanitization of entire structures and can provide significant hygiene benefits by reducing overall levels of microorganisms in indoor environments. It is also lethal to insects. ThermaPureHeat® is the patented methodology of structural pasteurization developed by ThermaPure, Inc. and proven effective in the study to eradicate bedbugs, their eggs and microorganisms that cause disease. This process can be used without pesticides.
About Sean P. Abbott
Dr. Sean P. Abbott is a mycologist specializing in indoor contamination issues. He received his Ph.D. from University of Alberta and has published on fungal biology and systematics, airborne biological hazards, microbial contamination of indoor environments and opportunistic human pathogenic fungi. Current research interests include fungal biology as it relates to indoor environments, health effects of exposure to airborne molds, antimicrobial efficacy testing, insect/anthropod vectors of microbes and indoor environmental quality monitoring. He is president of Natural Link Mold Lab, Sparks, NV.