Pest Control

We’re no fans of creepy little blood-suckers like bed bugs and head lice. We’re also not keen on pest control marketers who say their products prevent or treat these infestations, but can’t back up their claims.

In fact, the FTC recently negotiated a settlement with the marketers of Best Yet!, a line of cedar oil pest control products. The FTC alleged that Best Yet! didn’t have sufficient scientific proof that their products prevented and treated head lice and bed bugs, even though they claimed they did. The FTC also charged that marketers of Best Yet! falsely claimed that government agencies — including the EPA, USDA, and U.S. Army — endorsed their products.

Unproven products can do more than take a bite out of your wallet. Bed bugs and head lice are good hitchhikers, and not eliminating them properly will prolong the infestation and could let the pests spread to other people.

So what can you do? Do your homework when shopping for products and services related to head lice or bed bug infestations.

  • Check out FDA-approved treatments for head lice, along with steps for safe use. It’s important to note that the FDA — the federal agency regulating head lice products — hasn’t approved cedar oil as a safe and effective head lice treatment. 
  • Use the EPA’s bed bug product search tool to help you choose a product that meets your needs. The tough truth is, bed bug infestations are difficult to control, and no one treatment or technique has been found to be effective in all cases. Be wary of any brand that claims to be a silver bullet.
  • Learn more about battling bed bugs — including how to prevent and treat infestations.
Tagged with: health, home, treatment

Comments

You should always use the trusted products to control the pests, so that they do not harm you and works properly on pests.

Thanks for this warning! This is really beneficial to the public and yes, we should do some little research especially for pest control products. Let’s say no to false advertisements.

Yes before using any product just make sure about the whole details of product. Bed bugs requires spray which helps to keep them in control

I see that There are multiple cedar oil companies advertising "cedar oil neutralizes bed bugs and their eggs"; or "eradicating major infestations such as ants, bed bugs, roaches and scorpions"; or "best yet bed bug killer spray" although the FTC has taken action in 2012 and 2013 against companies for unproven cedar-oil based remedies for bed bugs and head lice.

pest control chemicals are bad. pleases leave this guys alone. we are poisoning ourself while trying to kill them

Are you saying we should allow a bedbug epidemic? Cause thats what we get if we leave them alone like you say. this is crazy. Also it is possible to kill them with heat, cold, or steam none of which are poisonous. Diatomcous earth is not poisonous either. Your excess fear is as bad as excess chemicals.

When you start shopping for solutions to this problem you find many "natural" products making claims that cant possibly be true, but people are so eager to find easy fixes that they buy this stuff. Then they write reviews telling other people it worked even tho they never really saw dead bugs. The EPA and some scientific studies show not very many products really work, but people dont go to the trouble to look. The answer is education, not wishful thinking. good luck selling that fact to american consumers tho.

I have a lot of bugs in my home. I have found that they are not clearing out on there own. I will be needing help on cleaning out these bugs. I think pest control would be my best option.

Leave a Comment

Comment Policy

Read Our Privacy Act Statement

It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.