Which
is better - DEET or "All Natural" Insect
Repellents?
DEET
DEET was
developed by the US government in 1951 after testing
11,000 compounds for their effectiveness in repelling
insects. It is approved by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) as an insect repellent and no other
substance has been found to be more effective.
Repellents with DEET are used by an estimated 200
million people worldwide each year, including 100
million individuals in America. According to a bulletin
issued by the EPA in 1989, less than 10 reports
of adverse side effects are received annually.
Used properly, DEET based products are safe and effective,
and some may argue that they are in fact safer than
"all natural" products. The FDA recommends
DEET products as a safe and effective way to avoid
getting bitten and possibly contracting the West Nile
Virus.
Citronella
Citronella
is a less effective insect repellent. It is derived
naturally, however it is not free from safety issues
associated from product mis-use, like DEET. The biggest
drawback to Citronella, aside from the fact that is
not as effective as DEET, is that it requires frequent
reapllication to be effective at all. Since folks
are not inclined to re-apply every few minutes, the
end result is that these types of products tend to
provide far less overall protection, and the risk
of getting bitten and contracting an illness increases.
To date,
34 such studies have been done and no unreasonable
adverse effects to people or the environment have
been found from the suggested use of DEET. When reactions
to DEET are reported, they are generally limited to
eye irritation from inadvertent exposure to the eyes
and infrequent skin reactions from sensitive individuals.
The bottom
line is that DEET repellents can be used confidently
by following label instructions.
Risks
from Insect Bites and Stings
Everybody has experienced
the annoyance of itching insect bites. But some insect bites
result in far more serious problems. Approximately 100 Americans
are reported to die each year from insect bites or stings.
However, the true number is probably much higher since researchers
are convinced that an unknown number of deaths attributed
to natural causes are actually caused by insect stings. For
example, a severely allergic reaction to bee stings can masquerade
as a heart-attack.
Lyme disease
is one of the better known insect-spread diseases; it is
carried by ticks, mostly commonly the deer tick. While highly
treatable in its early stages, if undetected Lyme disease
can cause serious long-term disabilities, including arthritic
joints, severe headaches and abnormal heartbeat. Cases have
been reported in 49 states; the disease is most common in
the Northeast and upper Midwest. The Centers for Disease
Control reported approximately 13,000 new cases nationwide
in 1994, a 58% increase from the previous year.
Besides Lyme
disease, ticks also transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever,
Colorado tick fever and several forms of encephalitis. In
addition to the Eastern equine encephalitis mosquitoes also
spread other forms of encephalitis. Even common house flies
and horse flies can transmit serious diseases, such as anthrax,
tuberculosis, tularemia, tetanus, typhoid, dysentery and
cholera.
The problems
posed by insects, then, certainly warrant using protection
when engaging in outdoor activities, particularly if you
live in areas known to be infested with disease-carrying
bugs. DEET has been proven effective against many types
of pests, including mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks, fleas,
biting flies, biting midges (commonly called no-see-ums),
and gnats.
"Used
according to label instructions, DEET is a perfectly
safe and highly effective way to protect yourself
from insects,"
|
