http://blog.rogersradiointernet.com/richardzurawski/2008/06/12/the-season-of-bugs/ Just another Rogers Radio Blog weblog Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:48:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.2.3-2.2.1 http://blog.rogersradiointernet.com/richardzurawski/2008/06/12/the-season-of-bugs/#comment-374 judi Anderson Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:28:45 +0000 http://blog.rogersradiointernet.com/richardzurawski/2008/06/12/the-season-of-bugs/#comment-374 This is a great article, but your comments on DEET as a "toxic chemical" leave the mistaken impression that use as directed is a risky thing to do. In fact, there are many compounds that are toxic if you ingest enough of them, including water, salt and many other things. DEET has been determined by the American Academy of Pediatrics as appropriate for use on children as young as two months of age, in concentrations up to 30%. So the "toxic" label you've added here is unnecessarily alarming. Would you want to drink DEET? Heavens no! It's intended to be applied on exposed skin. The CDC says it is "safe when used as directed." Now, you are absolutely correct that there are lots of new products out there that don't work and people put their faith in them, only to find out they are exposed to bites and to the diseases mosquitoes can transmit to them. Adverse events to DEET are eye irritation (most formulations have alcohol in them) and very rarely a skin rash that resolves when the product is washed off the skin. It's unclear if folks are sensitive to the DEET or to the other ingredients in the formulation. For those sensitive to fragrances in personal care products, we suggest they try a bit of repellent on the inside of the wrist as a test before applying on larger areas of skin. We encourage people to contact us with questions. I'm with the DEET Education Program, Washington, DC. www.deetonline.org. Thanks. This is a great article, but your comments on DEET as a “toxic chemical” leave the mistaken impression that use as directed is a risky thing to do. In fact, there are many compounds that are toxic if you ingest enough of them, including water, salt and many other things. DEET has been determined by the American Academy of Pediatrics as appropriate for use on children as young as two months of age, in concentrations up to 30%. So the “toxic” label you’ve added here is unnecessarily alarming. Would you want to drink DEET? Heavens no! It’s intended to be applied on exposed skin. The CDC says it is “safe when used as directed.” Now, you are absolutely correct that there are lots of new products out there that don’t work and people put their faith in them, only to find out they are exposed to bites and to the diseases mosquitoes can transmit to them. Adverse events to DEET are eye irritation (most formulations have alcohol in them) and very rarely a skin rash that resolves when the product is washed off the skin. It’s unclear if folks are sensitive to the DEET or to the other ingredients in the formulation. For those sensitive to fragrances in personal care products, we suggest they try a bit of repellent on the inside of the wrist as a test before applying on larger areas of skin. We encourage people to contact us with questions. I’m with the DEET Education Program, Washington, DC. www.deetonline.org. Thanks.

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