Here’s an after-school science experiment gone right: researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey created a homemade bedbug trap using a cat-food dish, an insulated jug and some dry ice pellets. According to the lead investigator, Wan-Tien Tsai, who reported her findings in December at the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America, the dry-ice-and-jug combo lured the blood-sucking critters in an infested apartment just as effectively as, if not better than, equipment used by professional exterminators.

The contraption consisted of an insulated one-third-gallon jug (you can find them in camping stores) filled with about 2.5 lbs. of dry ice pellets. The spout was left open, allowing carbon dioxide — the telltale sign of a breathing, blood-filled meal nearby — to seep out, enticing the nocturnal insects for some 11 hours. The setup, as described in an article on sciencenews.org:

[Tsai] stood the jug in a plastic cat food dish with a piece of paper taped on the outside of the dish as a ramp up to the rim. The bowl’s steep, slippery inside, with an added dusting of talcum powder, kept bugs from crawling out again. … The parts, including the dry ice, cost $15 and don’t require any special skills for assembly. “Everyone can do it,” she said.

The MacGyver-ized bedbug trap can’t replace a proper extermination of an infested home, but it could at least let you know whether or not you’ve got a problem. Bedbugs have made a serious comeback in North America over the past few years, especially in big cities like Toronto, San Francisco and New York, where complaints of infestations in rental apartments have increased many times over. Increasing international travel has also contributed to sharp rises in bedbug activity around the globe. The creatures don’t discriminate in the places they infest — they’ve been found in apartment buildings, hotels, dorms, schools and even subway stations.

For everything you never wanted to know about bedbugs, some further reading: a comprehensive bedbug website written by Michael Potter, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture; a New York Times article about dogs that sniff out bedbugs; and an online registry where users report bedbug infestations in apartment buildings and hotels in North America.

All superheroes need a good secret identity. Superman has Clark Kent, and Bruce Wayne is the one behind the wheel of the Bat mobile. University City hotels and apartment complexes have their own protector — Detective Shadow. Well, you can just call him Shadow but he’ll come to anyone who’ll rub his belly.

By night, Shadow is your typical, mild-mannered terrier mix. He loves carrying around his teddy bear and playing like a normal 4-year-old dog. But when the sun comes up, Detective Shadow dons his special harness and badge, going on the hunt for University City’s bed bugs.

“It’s like taking my best friend to work with me each day,” said Bill Caldwell, Shadow’s handler for Action Pest Exterminating. Shadow is one of the few dogs trained in the art of sniffing out bed bugs in North Carolina, Caldwell said.

His journey began in Florida, after Shadow was rescued from a shelter and brought to the Florida Canine Academy. Being a drug-sniffing dog wasn’t really suited for the friendly, cute pup, nor was bomb sniffing or any of the crime-related fields a dog can major in at the center.

Shadow is built for hunting bed bugs. His easy temper is perfect for entering people’s homes all day and meeting new people across University City. His sensitive, long nose is just right for detecting the specific odor of the blood-sucking pests.

After 800 hours of training, Shadow was ready, and Caldwell traveled south to get to know his new best friend about two years ago. After a week, Caldwell started to understand Shadow’s mannerisms, and Shadow was familiar with what Caldwell needed out of him.

“Seek” means it’s time to start sniffing, and Shadow goes right to work checking floorboards, outlets and furniture. He can smell the bugs from 5 feet away, and when he does, Shadow sits down on the spot. After being told “show me,” Shadow points to the pests’ hiding place with his nose.

And even if Caldwell can’t find the bugs right away, he knows to keep looking, because Shadow is hardly ever wrong. After a day digging around in a spot Shadow had pointed out in one apartment complex, Caldwell came back to Shadow empty handed, telling his partner he must have been wrong this time. A short time later, Caldwell found the bugs – in the adjoining wall of the apartment next door.

“It just blew their minds that Shadow smelled the bed bugs through the wall,” Caldwell said of the shocked complex staff. “His nose is better than my eyes.”

Bed bugs are a serious issue for the area, Caldwell said, as they can be hard to get rid of and aren’t particular about where they decide to take up residence. “Bed bugs don’t care how rich or clean you are,” Caldwell said. He calls them “hitchhikers” that can find a ride on the bus, in the movie theater or on vacation.

“We find bed bugs in 20 percent to sometimes 50 percent of the places we check,” Caldwell said.

That’s why apartment complexes, hotels, day cares and other locations call on Shadow for help. And help he does, until the day is over and his harness comes off. Then, it’s back to being a dog.

“He’s instantly a puppy again when that harness comes off,” Caldwell said of the dog he calls “my partner during the day, my friend at night.”

To learn more about Detective Shadow, visit http://bedbugdog-shadow.com.

The most important part of this MacGyverized contraption is an insulated one-third-gallon jug — like the kind sold in camping-supply stores — filled with 2½ lb. of frozen carbon dioxide, which costs about $1 per lb. (and should be handled only with gloves). As the dry-ice pellets slowly evaporate, the open thermos spout lets the CO2 — which falsely signals bedbugs that a breathing, blood-filled meal is nearby — seep out overnight. That’s usually enough time to entice the nocturnal insects into the other key component of the trap: the overturned food-and-water dish on which the thermos sits. The bugs climb the outer surface of the dish, which can be scuffed with sandpaper for better traction, and get stuck in its moat, made slippery-smooth with a dusting of talcum powder.

This trap was designed to give consumers a cheap way to determine if they have — or, in many cases, still have — a bedbug problem that requires a proper extermination. Bedbugs have made a serious comeback in North America over the past few years, especially in big cities like Toronto and San Francisco. And they are notoriously hard to get rid of. As evidence, amid the enthusiastic talk on Bedbugger.com about the Rutgers invention, one commenter noted, “Dude, I am so going to try this once a month or so.”

If you do bed bug treatments, you may have heard or will hear about an article published in Time Magazine recently, How to Build Your Own Bed Bug Detector at Home. The article references a Rutgers University study to see if heat, pheromone cues from the host, or carbon dioxide is the best attractant for bed bugs. The study concluded that dry ice was the best attractant. Dry ice produces carbon dioxide as it melts. Bed bugs are attracted to carbon dioxide, which humans exhale, and that is believed to be the method bed bugs use to find humans to feed on.  So it makes sense, but are these safe?

A customer called us who believed her 18-month-old son was getting bed bug bites. She read the Time Magazine article and wanted to place a dry ice pitfall trap under her sons crib. My first question with new products is always-how safe are they? So, I checked the MSDS for dry ice. Below are some of the statements from the MSDS that caused me to be concerned:

Signal Word: Danger!
Acute Health Hazard-Severe: X

Special Hazard Precautions: Concentration in excess of 1.5% carbon dioxide may cause death. At higher concentrations, displaces oxygen in air below levels necessary to support life.
Target organs: Respiratory system, skin

Carcinogen: Formaldehyde

In my opinion, the use of homemade dry ice traps by consumers may be dangerous, as indicated by the signal word “Danger.” According to the New York State Health Department Website, “Dry ice can be a very serious hazard in a small space that isn’t well-ventilated. As dry ice melts, it turns into carbon dioxide gas. In a small space, this gas can build up. If enough carbon dioxide gas is present, a person can become unconscious, and in some cases, die.” “Symptoms of overexposure to carbon dioxide include headache and difficulty breathing, and with greater exposure, nausea and vomiting.”

As pest control professionals, customers depend on us to provide information regarding responsible control of pests in their homes and businesses. In my opinion, everyone who may discuss bed bugs with customers need to aware of the dangers of dry ice.  I have e-mailed Time Magazine regarding their article, I have not heard back as of this time.