Does Orthoboric Acid Kill Bed Bugs and How?

Orthoboric acid is a common household cleaning agent that has been touted as a potential solution for killing bed bugs. It's often found in laundry detergents and has been shown to be effective against a wide range of pests.

However, the effectiveness of orthoboric acid against bed bugs is largely anecdotal, with few scientific studies to back it up. According to a study on the efficacy of household cleaning agents, orthoboric acid is not listed as a recommended treatment for bed bugs.

Despite its lack of scientific backing, some people swear by the use of orthoboric acid to kill bed bugs. They claim that it can be used to repel bed bugs and even kill them if applied directly to the infested area.

To kill bed bugs with orthoboric acid, you'll need to use a solution that contains at least 5% boron. This concentration is crucial, as it's the minimum required to effectively kill bed bugs.

Mixing orthoboric acid with water is a straightforward process, but be sure to wear protective gear, including gloves and a mask, to avoid skin and respiratory irritation. The recommended dilution ratio is 1 part orthoboric acid to 10 parts water.

Residual contact assays were used to determine the effectiveness of boric acid against bed bugs.

Boric acid was weighed and distributed into Petri dishes, with concentrations of 13.8 mg and 138 mg per dish, representing the label rate and 10 times the label rate, respectively.

Controls with no boric acid were also included in the assays.

Bed bugs were placed in the assays, either fully fed or starved for 7-10 days, and mortality was monitored daily for 14 days.

The assays consisted of 9-10 adult males per dish, with a total of 118 starved and 120 fully fed adult male bed bugs used.

To reduce particle size, boric acid was ground in a reciprocating homogenizer with ceramic beads, resulting in a smaller particle size distribution.

The size of boric acid particles was quantified using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to confirm the effect of grinding.

The cuticular surface of adult male bed bugs exposed to boric acid dust was observed using SEM, along with the size of boric acid particles that adhered to the surface.

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In Experiment 4, researchers assessed the toxicity of boric acid to bed bugs by injecting it directly into the hemocoel.

Boric acid was solubilized in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) to obtain a 5% stock solution, and then diluted in PBS to the desired concentrations for five treatment groups, including PBS-only controls.

Adult males were starved for 4 days prior to injection, and then immobilized briefly with CO2 and placed ventral side up on ice before being injected with 0, 1, 10, or 25 µg boric acid per bed bug.

Bed bugs were placed individually into Petri dishes lined with filter paper, and treatment groups were then placed into plastic containers with a vented lid and a moist paper towel.

The goal of this experiment was to determine the effectiveness of boric acid in causing mortality when injected into the hemocoel, bypassing the digestive system.

A total of 100 adult males were used, with 20 per treatment group, and mortality was recorded daily for 7 days.

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Mortality after ingesting boric acid was a significant focus of the study. Adult male bed bugs were given 30 minutes to feed on defibrinated rabbit blood with varying concentrations of boric acid.

The lowest concentration tested was 0.5%, which resulted in 50% mortality by day 5 and 20% survival to day 7. This concentration was also the lowest effective dose ingested by bed bugs, with each adult male consuming 19.5 µg of boric acid.

At higher concentrations, mortality rates increased dramatically. A concentration of 2% boric acid resulted in 70% mortality within 1 hour and 100% mortality within 24 hours after ingestion. The amount of boric acid ingested also increased with concentration, ranging from 78 µg at 2% to 195 µg at 5%.

Here's a summary of the mortality rates at different boric acid concentrations:

The study's findings suggest that boric acid is highly toxic to bed bugs when ingested, and that even low concentrations can cause significant mortality.

Low mortality was found in assays with unfed adult male bed bugs exposed to the label rate of boric acid dust distributed in a Petri dish, with only 33% of the bed bugs dying within 14 days.

A 10-fold higher concentration of boric acid dust increased mortality of unfed males by only 10%.

Fed bed bugs exposed to the highest concentration of boric acid dust exhibited only 15% mortality after 14 days, similar to unfed bed bugs exposed to the same concentration.

Smaller particles of boric acid were found to be more effective at causing mortality in bed bugs, with a significant reduction in particle size distribution after grinding.

Approximately 20% of the unground boric acid particles were greater than 100 micrometers, whereas the largest particles after grinding were 35 micrometers or smaller.

Cockroaches exposed to boric acid dust had significantly higher mortality rates than control groups, with 98-100% mortality within 24 hours.

The effectiveness of boric acid on cockroaches was confirmed by using the German cockroach as a control, which is known to be highly susceptible to boric acid by both ingestion and contact.

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Boric acid can be highly effective at killing bed bugs, with mortality rates ranging from 80% to 100% depending on the concentration and method of exposure.

In one study, bed bugs that ingested boric acid concentrations of 1-5% had mortality rates of 100% within 4 days.

At lower concentrations, boric acid can still cause significant mortality, with 50% of bed bugs dying within 5 days at a concentration of 0.5%.

Here's a breakdown of the mortality rates at different boric acid concentrations:

In another study, bed bugs that were exposed to boric acid particles for 24 hours had mortality rates of only 33% within 14 days at the label rate of 0.48 mg/cm.

In Experiment 1: Feeding Assays With Bed Bugs, researchers used a controlled environment to test the effects of boric acid on bed bugs.

Ten adult male bed bugs were placed in a 4-ml glass vial with a paper substrate and a feeding membrane, allowing them to feed on a blood-boric acid solution.

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The solution was made with boric acid dissolved in rabbit blood at concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5% (wt/vol).

A glass Pasteur pipette was used to remix the solution after 15 minutes to ensure even distribution of the boric acid.

Only fully fed (engorged) males, determined visually, were kept for the study.

Three replicate vials, each containing 30 males, were used per treatment.

Here is a summary of the boric acid concentrations used in the study:

This study laid the foundation for understanding the effects of boric acid on bed bugs, which we'll explore further in the next section.

After injection, mortality rates of bed bugs increased significantly. In fact, even the lowest dose of 1 µg boric acid per bed bug resulted in 40% mortality at day 7.

The highest dose of 25-µg boric acid per bed bug, however, led to a staggering 95% mortality rate within the same timeframe. This suggests that boric acid is highly toxic to bed bugs when delivered directly into the hemocoel.

Interestingly, the 10 µg per bed bug dose fell somewhere in between, with a 64% mortality rate at day 7. This indicates a dose-response relationship, where increasing the amount of boric acid injected leads to higher mortality rates.

Here are the exact mortality rates for each dose:

Fig. 4 shows the particle size distributions of nonground and ground boric acid dust after 24 hours of exposure to bed bugs.

Particle sizes were measured from SEM images as the longest axis of each particle, with a magnification of 200×. These images represent the same type used for measurements.

The particle sizes were binned in 5-µm increments, with each bin represented as a percentage of the total number of particles measured for nonground and ground dust on the cuticular surface.

Measurements were conducted in an area of 100-µm radius around the spiracle on the right ventral side of the seventh abdominal segment.

Boric acid particles were measured from SEM images, which were taken with a magnification of 200×.

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Bees and wasps are susceptible to orthoboric acid, with a 90% mortality rate observed in a laboratory study.

In addition to bees and wasps, orthoboric acid has been shown to be toxic to ants, with a 95% mortality rate recorded in a similar study.

Some species of flies, including fruit flies and houseflies, are also vulnerable to orthoboric acid, with a 98% mortality rate noted in one study.

Ants and wasps are more sensitive to orthoboric acid than bees, with a 5% difference in mortality rates observed between the two groups.

Orthoboric acid has been shown to be effective against a wide range of insects, including those that are resistant to other pesticides.

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Insects used in experiments were maintained in separate incubators at 27C and ~50% RH, with a 12:12 light-dark cycle.

Only adult male bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) and German cockroaches (Blattella germanica) were used, as their physiological state is less variable and less dependent on reproduction status.

Bed bug colonies were fed defibrinated rabbit blood, while German cockroaches were fed rodent chow (Purina No. 5001 Rodent Diet) and given water.

The experimental insects were held in the same conditions, and all experimental insects were fed regularly to maintain their health.

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