Wise Old Owl

Originally Posted by Wise Old Owl

Right off the EPA has made tremendous testing and its not hard to read their website and I quote Deet is a Repellent.


Benefits of DEET products
DEET's most significant benefit is its ability to repel potentially disease-carrying insects and ticks. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) receives more than 20,000 reports of Lyme disease (transmitted by deer ticks) and 100 reports of encephalitis (transmitted by mosquitoes) annually. Both of these diseases can cause serious health problems or even death in the case of encephalitis. Where these diseases are endemic, the CDC recommends use of insect repellents when out-of-doors. Studies submitted to EPA indicate that DEET repels ticks for about three to eight hours, depending on the percentage of DEET in the product."

I use Deet to repel BEDBUGS off my shoes... so far in close to five years of daily inspections I have not had an "Incident" only because its very handy and I can leave it in plain sight in my car.

May 25, 2010 -- Consumer Reports Health has issued a new ranking of the six repellents it says are best to ward off mosquitoes and deer ticks.
The magazine says it tested 10 insect repellents in an outside laboratory, where volunteers let deer ticks crawl on them and also exposed themselves to mosquitoes.
Six of these repellents earned a "recommended" rating from Consumer Reports. These six repellents, along with their active ingredients and cost, are:

• Off Deep Woods Sportsmen II; 30% DEET; cost: $1.25 an ounce.
• Cutter Backwoods Unscented; 23% DEET; cost: $1.33 per ounce.
• Off FamilyCare Smooth & Dry; 15% DEET; cost: $1.63 an ounce.
• 3M Ultrathon Insect Repellant 8; 25% DEET; $1.67 per ounce.
• Repel Plant Based Lemon Eucalyptus; active ingredient oil of lemon eucalyptus; cost: $1.94 an ounce.
• Natrapel 8-Hour with picaridin; 20% picaridin; cost: $2.00 an ounce.

Others tested included:

• Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard plus IR3535 Expedition SPF 30, active ingredient IR3535; cost: $3.50 per ounce. (horrible stuff above Connecticut.)
• Bite Blocker Xtreme (organic); Plant oils are listed as the active ingredient; cost: $1.34 per ounce.
• Cutter Skinsations Clean Fresh Scent; 7% DEET; cost: $1.04 per ounce.
• Burt's Bees All Natural Herbal; active ingredient plant oils; cost: $2.00 per ounce.

Consumer Reports Health says that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has judged DEET to be safe when used as directed, but that it has caused rare toxic reactions when not used as instructed. The EPA also says DEET shouldn't be applied to babies less than 2 months old.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has advised against using repellents with DEET concentrations higher than 30% on any kids. And Consumer Reports Health says no one should use a repellent with more than 30% DEET.
The top six repellents protected against deer ticks and mosquitoes for seven hours or more, Consumer Reports says in a news release.