States, the pest control industry and some federal agencies are citing a bed bug "epidemic" across the country in their calls for EPA to issue emergency permits allowing the use of long-banned pesticides, pointing to the increasing problem of bed bug victims using unregistered pesticides to combat infestations.rnBut Lois Rossi, director of EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs, told a National Bed Bug Summit April 14 in Arlington, VA, that those pesticides "weren't just pulled off the shelf for no reason." Rossi also downplayed lifting existing bans, saying, "We haven't entertained bringing back products.... I think we have to keep in mind that we have laws we use to make our decisions on and we have to make safety findings on these products."rnAt the event speakers said new populations of bed bugs are resistant to many currently used pesticides and can even live for days or weeks after being directly sprayed. Bed bug infestations are increasing nationally and even globally at a precipitous clip, but within the United States the problem is greatest in the Northeast.
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