Bed Bug Control Solution coming to market soon

February 24, 2016 ,

SFU communication ecologist Gerhard Gries says his new technology for detecting and controlling bed bugs is closer to commercialization now that Scotts Canada has become the industrial sponsor of his research chair.  Recently Gries, research associate Regine Gries, and SFU chemist Rob Britton earned worldwide acclaim for developing a pheromone, or chemical lure, for bed bugs, which have become a global public health concern.

Scotts Canada, a division of U.S.-based ScottsMiracle-Gro Company, has taken over the sponsorship from local firm Contech Enterprises, which went bankrupt last year. Scotts Canada expects to commercialize bed-bug detection and control products based on this pheromone technology.  Scotts is in the process of developing the bed bug technology for various markets, such as the consumer market and the structural pest control industry market.

“We are now working with a partner that has the resources—both personnel and financial—to really develop our pest control technologies that show great promise,” says Gries, a renowned researcher in insect and animal communication.