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. 2018 Feb 12;13(2):e0192462.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192462. eCollection 2018.

Histamine as an emergent indoor contaminant: Accumulation and persistence in bed bug infested homes

Zachary C DeVries  1   2 , Richard G Santangelo  1 , Alexis M Barbarin  3 , Coby Schal  1   2   4
Affiliations

Histamine as an emergent indoor contaminant: Accumulation and persistence in bed bug infested homes

Zachary C DeVries et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Histamine is used in bronchial and dermal provocation, but it is rarely considered an environmental risk factor in allergic disease. Because bed bugs defecate large amounts of histamine as a component of their aggregation pheromone, we sought to determine if histamine accumulates in household dust in bed bug infested homes, and the effects of bed bug eradication with spatial heat on histamine levels in dust. We collected dust in homes and analyzed for histamine before, and up to three months after bed bug eradication. Histamine levels in bed bug infested homes were remarkably high (mean = 54.6±18.9 μg/100 mg of sieved household dust) and significantly higher than in control homes not infested with bed bugs (mean < 2.5±1.9 μg/100 mg of sieved household dust). Heat treatments that eradicated the bed bug infestations failed to reduce histamine levels, even three months after treatment. We report a clear association between histamine levels in household dust and bed bug infestations. The high concentrations, persistence, and proximity to humans during sleep suggest that bed bug-produced histamine may represent an emergent contaminant and pose a serious health risk in the indoor environment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Bed bugs and signs of an infestation.
Photos depiciting (A) a typical bed bug aggregation showing blood-fed and unfed bed bugs and fecal spots that contain histamine (photo credit: Matt Bertone), and (B) a matress heavily stained by bed bug feces, which contains histamine (photo credit: Mike Waldvogel and Jung W. Kim).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Sieved dust collected from homes.
Sieved dust (box plot; mean = dotted line, median = solid line) from house dust collected from bed bug-infested homes (n = 14) and un-infested homes (n = 10) in the same apartment building. Un-infested-control homes (n = 5) are separate apartments >8 km from the apartment building and are not known to have had bed bugs in the past 3 yrs. No significant differences were detected among groups according to ANOVA.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Histamine in bed bug infested homes.
Histamine concentrations (box plot; mean = dotted line, median = solid line) in house dust collected from bed bug-infested homes (n = 14) and un-infested homes (n = 10) in the same apartment building. Un-infested-control homes (n = 5) are separate apartments >8 km from the apartment building and are not known to have had bed bugs in the past 3 yrs. Significant differences according to the Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison test (on cube-root transformed data) are indicated by different letters.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Change in indoor environmental histamine following bed bug eradication.
Percent changes in histamine concentrations (mean percentage ± SEM) in house dust collected from bed bug infested control homes (no intervention, n = 9), and bed bug infested treated homes (intervention at time 0, n = 6). No significant differences were observed for either treatment over time.
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