Tips for Mite Control In Cars

I don't think I've thought of any of these ideas on my own, but I've read them in a number of places, including the yahoo group birdmitesorg where people discuss methods of controlling biting mite infestations. Since I've heard so many of them, I thought it would be good to put in one place. Many thanks to those who have tried these things!

1) Spread Borax/Diatomacious Earth on the carpet where you sit, lay it on thick. One person said she uses the whole box on the seat back, seat, and carpet in front of the seat. Leave the powder there while you drive. One person uses towls to protect her clothing from the powder, changing a clean towel every time. I use a bag (see 4).

2) If it's winter, don't turn the heat on, leave your coat on and keep it closed tightly. The mites are less likely to make it on you if it's subzero temperatures.

3) Put a 50 gallon black garbage bag over the seat, if you treated the seat with Borax, leave the Borax there, this will also protect your clothing from the white powder. When you enter the car, you can spray down the bag with alcohol and wipe it to make sure there are no mites on the bag when you sit. A similar idea I read is to put a shower cap on the head rest. A combination may be needed if the seat is too big.

4) If you're being infested from the steering wheel, use latex gloves.

5) Have your car detail cleaned/steam cleaned

6) Use free car-wash car vacuums to vacuum the inside of your car.

7) If you're tracking mites in your car on your shoes, wipe the bottoms with Windex, Ammonia, or Alcohol.

8) Spray your shoes, socks, feet, legs and pant legs with an insect repellant such as Lemon Eucalyptus or Picardin repellants (available from Repel, Cutter, and Off).

9) Spray your car with a mixture of epsom salt and water, the epsom salt should be quite concentrated, you can wipe plastic areas clean with a wet rag to avoid residue.

10) Make sure there are no rodents living in your car. In Texas, Michigan, and the East Coast, there have been numerous reports of mice, rats, and squirrels making nests or living in cars that are not used on a daily basis. These rodents will often seek shelter in the car during winter months and may be the source of a continued mite infestation.

While rodent mites generally infest rodents, even bird mites can maintain an infestation on a rodent. If the rodents are in your cabin, you can use snap traps (or if your desperate, poison--although it might rot in your car).

You can also take rodent control measures around your car, putting poison or traps in the garage etc. Some people have used Fox urine or ground Irish Spring soap in little cups to keep rodents at bay. Don't put anything flamable or meltable in the engine compartment. If you have a nest in your car, take the necessary protective measures to remove the nesting material (gloves, breathing protection etc.)

11) Treat the car with an ozone generator. More than an hour of running a generator should expose the mites thoroughly enough. Beware that high concentrations of ozone can be lethal to breath.

12) Fog the car with Cedarcide for some 10 to 15 minutes. Move "through the car" when you fog and make sure each crevice, nook, and cranny is fogged thoroughly. The trijet fogger sold by Cedarcide has the habbit of not reaching areas "in the shadows"--that is, not directly exposed to the stream coming from the fogger. The mist also moves from up to down, so you will need to make special attention to fog under seats and hard to get places.

Bring Back DDT!

The article on Tropical Rat Mites by Theodore Olsen in the list of Tropical Rat Mite sources showed that their experiments with various pesticides proved that DDT was extremely toxic to the mites (unlike any pesticide that is available today). Most likely this is the case for both Rodent and Bird Mites. These months, even years of agony and suffering could be over within hours if DDT could be used. We all acknowledge that temperatures are rising globally and this may well be the reason for the spread and rise of these blood feeding mites. Perhaps our climate was keeping them in check, but now the warmth does not allow such a control.


Recent reports have shown that rat populations are exploding in Washington, DC and Detroit (Rodent Reports Increase In DC and Vermin Complaints Soar In Metro Detroit) due to the mild winter. In Detroit, the mild weather combines with the halting of a highway-side rat baiting program that had held the problem in check for years, it was halted due to legal liability concerns--yet another instance of the weakening of our defences against pests and parasites. Some in DC are banding together to make war on rats and try to get something done about it (Washingtonians Against Rats). New York is also fighting its rats out of control (Rats Rampage At KFC and New York Tackles Its Gnawing Rat Problem) as is Seattle (Chilly Rats Want a Cozy Home).


The increase in rats can be expected everywhere, and with them will come the Rat Mites. In the 1950s, these mites were known to mainly infest rats and people in the Southern States (see Pratt in my post "Academic Research on Tropical Rat Mites"), but now they are making their way up to Oregon, Washington State, and British Colombia (Reports of Rat Mites on the Rise, Seatle)--and most likely in many other places that have not yet realized what hit them.

(I actually wonder if many of the cases of mite infestation in the last two years might not be this increase of rats and spread of rat mites due to mild weather or perhaps the weather has a similar effect on pigeons and bird mites.)


Also, Bed Bug infestations have risen exponentially in all 50 states and they are more resistant than ever. Just between 2000 and 2005 pest control companies saw a 71% increase in bed bug complaints (Bed Bugs Bounce Back: Outbreaks in All 50 States). Some scientists are not only pointing out that people in Third World countries die from Malaria because DDT is not used, but that Malaria and the mosquitos that spread them will spread into Europe and the United States, killing thousands (Bring Back DDT: Overspraying Made DDT Look Worse Than It Deserved).


If I may say so, it is time that a movement starts to build up to stop this insanity. DDT wiped out bed bugs once, it can do it again. It wiped out malaria once, it can do it again. And it can help all those who struggle day after day with the loneliness and distress of mite infestations that destroy lives and waste fortunes.


While our safety procedures and technology have improved, our pesticides have weakened (see Bed Bug article above). It is time to combine modern safety with the strongest pesticide known to humankind, DDT. This could be extended to other pesticides as well. Why create regulations for Malathion and other pesticides that have recently been targeted for either bans or too tight restrictions?


Inform the users/clients of the risks, take the necessary precautions and allow them to take responsibility for themselves. The stress and loss from these long term and traumatic pest infestations (Acariasis is a disease) may already be shortening our lives--it has definately affected our quality and dignity of life--shouldn't we weigh this in the risk consideration?

Further Reading

New York Times 2004: What the World Needs Now is DDT

FrontPageMag 2005: Bring Back DDT-Congressional Hearing

EcoWorld 2004: Bring Back DDT: Overspraying Made DDT Look Worse Than It Deserved

21st Century Science and Technology 2002: Bring Back DDT and Science With It

Spiked Science 2001: Without DDT, Malaria Bites Back

Fox News 2002: DDT Could Thwart West Nile Virus

The Hindu 2006: Banned DDT Back to Fight Dengue (An Indian state lifts ban to save lives.)

Gus van Horn 2007: So Bring Back DDT Already!

Cedarcide

The following was posted to me on the yahoo group birdmitesorg. If you suffer from mites, I recommend joining this community of over 60 people who discuss methods of solving this problem.

"Hi Loviatar. We got rid of our bird mites (I think) after using CedarCide Spray/Fogger throughout the house on everything and by spraying it on us before doing any outside work. There were 2 or 3 others who tried it but I have not seen anything on this site from either lately. We have had no activity for at least 6 weeks. Just thought I might mention that and it is also safe for dogs and cats. Dr, Ben Oldag confirmed our pest was a bird mite although I am not sure what kind. I suspect the same type FritoLay pictured on one of her last posts. J."

Another responded:

"Only recently have some of us discovered that 1 to 2 cups of Epsom salt mixed with water placed in a one pint container poured on to the skin and dried on the skin with a hair drier will kill what ever is on the skin. This treatment has made sleeping much easier for a lot of people. This seems to work much better than oils for some. R."

We also tried Cedarcide, but for some reason the mites would only hold off for a day. Maybe they were still coming in from an original host or their eggs were hatching daily, I'm not sure. We thought it was only suppressing them. I'm glad it worked for somebody and I hope it works for more people! I was glad for the success story, I needed the encouragement that some people have been able to get rid of this!