Cockroach infestation linked to home allergen, endotoxin levels: Findings suggest that eliminating cockroach infestations could help improve indoor environmental health by greatly reducing allergens and endotoxins.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103340
6 Comments
Honestly, just another reason to keep your place clean.
Does this mean I have to throw away ALL my old pizza boxes? Or can I keep a few for load bearing purposes?
Is this what science is now? All living things shed and poop. When you have thousands of them in your home, yeah, you’re probably going to have a reaction to all of that detritus wafting through the stale air that circulates in your environment…
A link to the peer reviewed research:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772829325001729
> Large amounts of endotoxin are excreted by female (2900 endotoxin units [EU]/mg feces) and male (1400 EU/mg) cockroaches. At baseline, household dust and HVAC filters in infested homes had significantly higher levels of allergen (Bla g 2) and endotoxin than uninfested homes. Environmental intervention resulted in significant declines in cockroaches as well as allergen and endotoxin levels. In contrast, cockroach numbers and allergen and endotoxin concentrations remained high in infested-control homes.
Just don’t try to kill them with an improvised flamethrowerÂ
Most people do not realize roaches are not just gross to look at. They shed tiny bits of bacteria and proteins into the air. That dust can stay in carpets, vents and furniture for a long time. So even after the bugs are gone the allergy reaction can continue.
It explains why some people test negative for common allergies but keep having asthma flare ups inside certain homes.