WEBVTT - Can We Win the War on Cockroaches?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbam here with great news. Cockroaches are quickly becoming

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<v Speaker 1>resistant to several different insecticides all at the same time.

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<v Speaker 1>Cool cool, cool one. Michael Scharf, a professor in the

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<v Speaker 1>Department of Entomology at Purdue University, along with his team

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<v Speaker 1>found that these pests are developing cross resistance to multiple

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<v Speaker 1>classes of exterminators insecticides. The team's work was published in

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<v Speaker 1>the June twenty nineteen issue of Scientific Reports. The problem

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<v Speaker 1>is that each class of insecticides works differently to kill

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<v Speaker 1>these critters, so exterminators frequently mix them or switch them

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<v Speaker 1>up to combat infestations. Cockroaches are resistant to multiple insecticides, well,

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<v Speaker 1>you can see where this is going. Scharf and his

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<v Speaker 1>team used apartment buildings in Indiana and Illinois that had

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<v Speaker 1>infestations of German cockroaches as their experimental grounds. First, because

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<v Speaker 1>tomor g is very glamorous, they caught some of the

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<v Speaker 1>roaches and tested them to see which insecticides had the

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<v Speaker 1>lowest resistance on the roaches. Low resistance means the roaches

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<v Speaker 1>would be more vulnerable to the treatments which the scientists

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<v Speaker 1>went on to use for six months. Scharf said in

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<v Speaker 1>a press release, if you have the ability to test

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<v Speaker 1>the roaches first and pick an insecticide that has a

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<v Speaker 1>low resistance, that ups the odds. But even then we

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<v Speaker 1>had trouble controlling populations. The researchers rotated three different insecticides.

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<v Speaker 1>That method kept the roach population stable over six months,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning it neither increased nor decreased. When they mixed two insecticides,

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<v Speaker 1>the roach population flourished, according to the press release, flourished

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<v Speaker 1>being just about the last verb anyone wants to hear

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<v Speaker 1>when talking about cockroaches. When the team used just one

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<v Speaker 1>insecticide for the entire six months and the roaches had

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<v Speaker 1>low resistance to that particular insecticide, they were nearly wiped out. Well, great, right,

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<v Speaker 1>Not really, because if even ten percent of the roaches

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<v Speaker 1>had resistance to that insecticide, the population would increase, Scharf said,

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<v Speaker 1>quote four to sixfold in just one generation. We didn't

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<v Speaker 1>have a clue that something like that could happen this fast.

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<v Speaker 1>During this test, the roaches also developed resistance to several

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<v Speaker 1>other kinds of insecticides, even if the new generations had

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<v Speaker 1>never been exposed to them before. So now what Scharf said.

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<v Speaker 1>He recommends combating roaches with more than chemical warfare, including

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<v Speaker 1>traps and vacuums. Quote. Some of these methods are more

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<v Speaker 1>expensive than using only insecticides, but if those insecticides aren't

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<v Speaker 1>going to control or eliminate a population, you're just throwing

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<v Speaker 1>money away. Oh and hey, you've probably heard that roaches

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<v Speaker 1>can survive a nuclear blast, and the terrible news is

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<v Speaker 1>that that appears to be true. Remember the show MythBusters.

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<v Speaker 1>Their team set up an experiment that exposed German cockroaches

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<v Speaker 1>to different levels of radiation. One group was exposed level

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<v Speaker 1>similar to those omitted by the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

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<v Speaker 1>For a month, ten thousand rads, ten percent of the

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<v Speaker 1>group was still alive. Maybe we should just go ahead

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<v Speaker 1>and bow to our cockroach overlords now. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by Kristen hall Geisler and produced by Tyler Clay.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works.

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