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34
Disinfestation.
The activities of the public health department in regard to disinfestation may be divided into
two branches. The first is the treatment of vermin-infested houses, and the second the treatment
of verminous furniture.
Treatment of Verminous Dwellings.
Probably the most rapid, effective, and economical method of eradicating the bed bug in
verminous houses is by means of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) fumigation. This chemical, however, is
highly poisonous both to human beings and domestic animals, and its use in areas like Kensington
where most of the houses are of the terrace type is fraught with considerable risk. Indeed, because
of this risk other methods, perhaps not so effective but safer in operation, have to be employed.
One method of treatment which has been evolved is that in which a substance known as washed
heavy naphtha is used.
The number of premises treated with naphtha during 1938 was 61, the total number of room!
being 183, Forty borough council houses were treated with naphtha.
The council's clearing house at Seymour King buildings was used to re-house temporarily
families displaced while their houses were being treated with naphtha.
The treatment of slight infestations.
The council do all in their power to help persons who find that their houses are slightly buginfested,
and the council's workmen treat such premises either by burning sulphur or, more frequently,
by applying a light contact spray. In some cases a small spray apparatus charged with insecticide
is loaned to poor persons, and instruction is given in its use. During the year 858 premises were
treated with sulphur or with a light spray, 1,115 rooms in these premises being affected ; and 1,532
articles were taken to Wood Lane to be treated in the steam disinfectors.
Treatment of houses to be demolished.
When houses are demolished the woodwork frequently finds its way, either as firewood or for
repair purposes, into other houses, and thus vermin may be earned unsuspectingly from condemned
houses to houses hitherto free. To avoid this possibility all infested houses are disinfested prior
to demolition.
The Disinfestation of Furniture, etc., with Hydrogen Cyanide.
The method introduced in the borough in 1934 to prevent the transference of vermin from old
vermin-infested houses to new housing estates continued in operation throughout the year.
All families who are allocated flats under rehousing schemes are notified that fumigation of
their furniture must be carried out before they can take up occupation of their new homes.
On the day of removal a specially constructed steel van arrives at the old home about 8 a.m.
when all furniture and effects are loaded into the vehicle, which then goes to the council's Wood
Lane depot. Bedding is removed from the van for disinfection by steam, after which hydrogen
cyanide is applied to the contents left in the van. The gas remains in contact with the furniture
for two hours and the process of extraction is then put into operation for four hours. Tests are
made to ensure that all the hydrogen cyanide has been extracted, after which the furniture and
bedding are transferred to the new home. The entire process of removal and fumigation is
completed during the same day so that the family, experience no inconvenience. There is an
exception, however, in the case of upholstered articles, which, as a precautionary measure, are
retained overnight in a warm, well-ventilated room ; this is done because it has been found difficult
to render these articles entirely free from all traces of hydrogen cyanide in four hours.
This work of disinfestation with hydrogen cyanide is carried out by the council's own skilled
operators, who were trained at the Imperial Chemical Industries' works at Billingham.
It is interesting to observe that this service is not one which is shunned by the working classes ;
it has become exceedingly popular, and working-class families voluntarily removing from one address
to another in the borough frequently ask the council to move their furniture and disinfest it en route.
lhe council's stipulation that no family shall enjoy a new home under a housing scheme unless
their effects have been disinfested is a wise one, for it means that all families, whether they think
th'-n furniture is verminous or not, are treated alike. It is further interesting to note that furniture
coming from condemned houses, even though it looks clean and has been cared for by a reasonably
clean housewife, is more frequently infested than is thought either by the general public or by the
housewife herself.
Summary of disinfestation of furniture carried out during the year.
Number of families whose furniture was transferred by the council from
old to new homes 419
Number of loads treated with hydrogen cyanide 491
The weight of furniture removed and treated with hydrogen cyanide was 532 tons.