Dust mites – microscopic arachnids that live in your bed, pillows, carpeting, sofas and drapery.

They feed off of the dead skin cells we shed as we go about our lives and are especially prevalent in our beds, where we spend as much as 1/3 of our lives. 

Within one year of buying a new mattress, there is a 99.9 percent chance mites have already begun to make themselves at home. Over a three-year period, there are an average of 2 million dust mites living in that mattress. A 10-year-old mattress can almost double in its weight from the number of dust mites living in it. Nearly 5,000 of them can fit onto the head of a pin.

Now, if the thought of them living in your mattress wasn’t enough to make your skin crawl, their shed skin and feces serve as a strong allergen for many people, exacerbating asthma, causing skin reactions, sneezing and watery eyes.

Thoroughly disgusted yet? Thinking how you wake up many mornings with itchy eyes? Before you go out and buy a new mattress, Rob Cozzolino wants you to know there is an easier way to get rid of these unseen pests. Cozzolino recently opened Mites-B-Gone, a company that uses Hygienitech technology to help rid mattresses and other mite harbors in the home of the dust mites. The Hygienitech system was created in Europe in the mid-80s. While the process continued to grow and thrive across the ocean, it only recently started to gain popularity in the U.S. since it was introduced eight years ago, a trend which Cozzolino partly attributes to the newer interest in green living and stronger awareness of our indoor environment.

Cozzolino started the business after watching his son suffer from asthma for years and wanting to make a difference in his, and other people's lives.

“When I saw this opportunity, I jumped on it,” said Cozzolino. “It is very rare you get to do something that you can actually say you help people. Close to 50 million people today have some form of allergies. According to a recent study [conducted by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology], dust mites are the No. 2 cause of allergy problems, behind only pollen. And that’s a big statement.”

When Cozzolino first comes into the home, he does an initial test extraction and a chemical test to determine the level of allergens and feces in the mattress which helps define the percentage of infestation.

If the client gives the go-ahead, Cozzolino uses a three-step process to get rid of the mites. The extraction is done with the special vacuum system and UV-C light (a germicidal light that has been used in the medical community for years) in order to remove and destroy the dust mites, fungal spores, bacteria and other harmful debris found in the mattress; and an anti-allergen is sprayed over the surface of the bed.

The effect can be noticed almost immediately, says Cozzolino, however it is not a permanent solution, especially for people with severe allergies, follow-up maintenance is recommended.

Cozzolino notes people with strong allergies should consider having the extraction done every few months.

For more information, or to schedule a free dust mite mattress contamination test, call 587-5262 or logon to the Mites-B-Gone Web site at www.mitesbgone.com.

Factoid:

A gram of dust contains as many as 1,000 dust mites and 250,000 allergenic dust mite fecal pellets.