Thursday, Jul 05, 2007 at 08:48
Harry, I'm not sure that 'If it was detrimental to your health it wouldn't be on the market in 24 countries' is necessarily true.
My statement that 'DEET 80% also worked, but you wouldn't use that every day or your legs and arms would fall off', was made somewhat tongue in cheek, but the concept was based on some simple research.
For example, Canada no longer registers (and has cancelled past registrations of) any DEET product with concentrations over 30%. THey also recommend that concentratios over 10% not be used on children under 12 years.
The American Acadamy of Pediatrics recommends that DEET of over 10% concentration not be used on children. You would think there would be a reason for this.
One web site I looked at listed some of the suspected effects of prolonged exposure to high concentrations of DEET. They included head ache, rashes, convulsions and death. Not sure how scientific any review was though.
Suffice to say, we are happy to use DEET, but avoid high concentrations. We carry some 80% cream, but rarely use it.
Interestingly, I found 2 references (American EPA and Canadian Health Dept) where tests have shown that the repellant effect of DEET levels out at concentrations of around 30% (but up to 50% in a few cases). Effectively they are saying that there is no benefit in using concentrations above 30 to 50% in any case.
Also, they found that (in the lab on mosquitos), the concentration level of DEET has a greater effect on length of protection that level. 10 % gave 1.5 to 3 hours protection. 24% gave 3 to 6 hours protection.
I'll keep my eye out for a product with about 30% (haven't see one yet), and for the moment accept that as a good compromise between repellant and health.
Our camper trailer has fine mesh. Once inside for the night, there is generally no problem, But you don't go to the Gulf for a 6 week fishing trip and stay inside the CT all day. Unless in bed, we spend our time outside.
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