Although Cockroaches may be considered a pest because they look pretty nasty they can also be dangerous to your health causing gastrointestinal and respiratory illness. The latest research also shows that cockroach debris (old shells, body parts, and droppings) triggers asthma attacks in people who are sensitized to cockroach allergen.
Which homes should be checked?
Any home with food or moisture in it can have cockroaches. Often, apartment buildings have the worst infestations. A home where a resident has asthma and says cockroaches have been spotted should be the highest priority. If an apartment building is to be sampled, it is best to test more than one unit. If only one unit is tested, the landlord may claim that only that unit is infested and put the blame for the problem solely on the one tenant. Some housing codes put the responsibility for killing the cockroaches on the tenant if the tenant’s unit is the only one infested.
Most pest control operators use traps to monitor for cockroaches.
The levels of infestation that can be seen in a monitor trap for one night are likely to be
Low less then 10
Moderate 10 to 25
High 25 or more.
If you have more then 25 per trap then you should be paying the cockroaches rent because the house is theirs and not yours. :o)
How do you get rid of them?
A variety of methods can be used and some are better left for professionals. For any area around food it is important to use glue traps. Although the Cockroaches may come to that area frequently over night it is not likely that this is where they call home.
Pesticides can be used to kill roaches on contact but then it is important to remove the dead bugs as soon as possible.
If you live in an apartment building or a multi family residence it will mean treatment of the whole building to remove the pests completely.
It is important that any pesticides that are applied by a professional in a common area should only be done when the other tenants have been given prior notice. Notification is the Law and in other then emergency situations the professional must give notice and time for the other tenants to prepare since some people can be highly allergic to pesticides. For that reason and without even considering the dangers of applying pesticides if you live in a multi tenant building you should use glue traps and then only use pesticides within your own residence if you have your landlords permission.
Cockroaches may be a pest but they can also be a danger to your health.
If you have a low level problem then take care of it yourself if it is more then that call a licensed professional.