Volume 7, Issue 5, July 2016, Pages 958–963
Abstract
Reducing
exposure to ticks can help prevent Lyme disease and other tickborne
diseases. Although it is currently recommended to dry clothes on high
heat for one hour to kill ticks on clothing after spending time
outdoors, this recommendation is based on a single published study of
tick survival under various washing conditions and a predetermined
one-hour drying time. We conducted a series of tests to investigate the
effects of temperature, humidity, and drying time on killing nymphal and
adult blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis). Muslin bags
containing 5 ticks each were washed then dried or dried only with six
cotton towels during each drying cycle. All nymphal and adult ticks were
killed when exposed to wash cycles when the water temperature reached
≥54 °C (≥130 °F); however, 50% of ticks survived hot water washes when
the water temperature was <54 °C. The majority (94%) of ticks
survived warm washes [temperature range, 27–46 °C (80–115 °F)] and all
ticks survived cold washes [15–27 °C (59–80 °F)]. When subsequently
dried on high heat setting [54–85 °C (129–185 °F)], it took 50 min to
kill all ticks (95% confidence limit, 55 min). Most significantly, we
found that all adult and nymphal ticks died when placed directly in the
dryer with dry towels and dried for 4 min on high heat (95% confidence
limit, 6 min). We have identified effective, easily implemented methods
to rid clothing of ticks after spending time outdoors. Placing clothing
directly in a dryer and drying for a minimum of 6 min on high heat will
effectively kill ticks on clothing. If clothing is soiled and requires
washing first, our results indicate clothing should be washed with water
temperature ≥54 °C (≥130 °F) to kill ticks. When practiced with other
tick-bite prevention methods, these techniques could further reduce the
risk of acquiring tickborne diseases.
Keywords
- Ixodes scapularis;
- Tick-borne disease prevention;
- Clothing;
- Ticks;
- Borrelia burgdorferi
Published by Elsevier GmbH.
