SPEA professor discusses pest control at Green Drinks event

The mood was light as IU professor Marc Lame took the microphone to speak to a crowd gathered at Upland Brewery. The message was serious.

“Bedbugs are happening again,” Lame said. “We already have significant bedbugs in Bloomington, and if you haven’t had a problem with bedbugs already, you will within the next few years.”

Lame, a School of Public and Environmental Affairs professor, spoke at the monthly Green Drinks event, which is made up of environmentally conscious individuals who discuss issues facing Bloomington.

“A bedbug is half the size of your little fingernail, so you’ll see them, but not during the day,” he said. “You’ll see little spots of blood in the morning and that is the only sign they were there, because the bites don’t hurt.”

Lame also spoke about the problems inherent in pest management. According to the SPEA professor, pesticides have been known to be involved in causing Parkinson’s and Hodgkin’s disease. 

“You have all been exposed to pesticides,” Lame said. “The EPA regulates them so you think it’s safe, but 20 years later they say ‘oops’ because those pesticides were actually harmful.”

He advises that people practice “integrated pest management” as opposed to “traditional pest management,” which is the typical exterminator spraying chemicals for bugs.

Integrated pest management involves taking precautionary measures to ensure that bugs do not become a problem in the first place, thus eliminating the need for pesticides.

“By using integrated pest management, you’ll find that you have fewer pests and fewer pesticides,” Lame said.

Marcia Veldman, the head of Green Drinks Bloomington, said she practices this pest management system in her own home.

“I already practice this myself, but I thought (Lame) was great,” she said. “I had quit using spray pesticides before his lecture, but it is a wonderful system.”

Lame is attempting to get the University to adopt a similar pest control system that will use fewer pesticides.

“I’m working on it, but there hasn’t been much response so far,” he said. “I’m pushing on these guys to do it, but it’ll be the bedbugs that will do it. There is nothing like a bedbug infestation to push people into action.”

Dave Parsons, a Bloomington local who attended the lecture, said he is also concerned with the problems of traditional pest management.

“There’s collateral damage when you use pesticides,” he said. “And people are one of the parts that get damaged.”

Parsons and his wife are also travelers, which increases the chances of a bedbug infestation.

“There’s things in life you’d rather not have to put up with, and bedbugs are one of them,” Parsons said.