DEET is Neurotoxic In Humans.

[elfs]

Oh, hell. This is gonna make Kouryou-chan very, very unhappy, since she's one of those people who gets bit a lot, and DEET seems to be the only thing that keeps them at bay.

Popular Insect Repellent DEET Is Neurotoxic:

DEET is not simply a behavior-modifying chemical but also inhibits the activity of a key central nervous system enzyme, acetycholinesterase, in both insects and mammals.

Comments

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

Have you tried regular doses of vitamin B1?

[solarbird]

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

Kouryou-chan and me both. FUCK

[shaterri.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I'm not wholly shocked — my impression of DEET has always been 'this is some scary-ass stuff, but at least you know it'll get the job done'. This definitely tips the risk/reward balance quite a bit, but it always seemed like the military's primary heavy-duty bug-fighting chemical was likely to pose some real hazards...

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

You didn't know this? Of course it's a neurotoxin. It's what drives the insect away - just a little affects them and they want nothing to do with it. You can kill a mosquito by spraying OFF on it.

Fortunately one thing you can do to minimize harm to kids is to spray their clothes with OFF before they put them on. Thus all the DEET is in the fibers of the clothing rather than absorbed onto the skin. This still repels the bugs. You still have to spray the neck though. This trick works well and for my experience, seems to make the OFF last longer too (I suspect all the stuff being absorbed is no longer useful as a repellent, so you have to use more.)

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

I am sensitive to it and only use it in very bad conditions. My preferred alt is to put cheap mouthwash in a spray bottle and spritz myself with it. But my sweat washes that away in an hour or two.

[iljoyce.livejournal.com]

There is a new product here just about to go on the market that is natural using pheramonesthat works very very well on midges (blood sucking biting flies that populate the West of Scotland). As soon as it is in the pharmacies, I will send you a bottle.