Everyone always mentions DDT when the topic of bedbugs comes up, but bedbugs developed resistance to DDT a long time ago, and are still largely resistant to DDT despite it not being used for so long. DDT would almost certainly prove ineffective at controlling bedbugs on a large scale.
Source on that if you have one? As I read it, DDT is the ultimate insecticide and nothing ever really became resistant to it despite massive usage.
I believe DDT was not used for bedbugs but rather another chemical was used but is also banned for indoor use. I remember reading about it. I'll look for it...
Did the EPA create the bedbug revival?
The debate isn’t over long-banned DDT, since modern bed bugs have developed a tolerance for that chemical. But in the pre-1996 regime, experts say, bed bugs were “collateral damage” from broader and more aggressive use of now-banned pesticides like Malathion and Propoxur.
US grapples with bedbugs, misuse of pesticides
Ohio authorities, struggling against widespread infestations in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and other cities, are pleading with EPA to approve the indoor use of the pesticide propoxur, which the agency considers a probable carcinogen and banned for in-home use in 2007. About 25 other states are supporting Ohio's request for an emergency exemption.