I remember Deet growing up. For those who don’t know, Deet is the most common ingredient found in most commercial insect repellents, and is known to be highly toxic. My parents used to caution us to use only tiny amounts, especially my dad who is an environmentalist and was quite concerned about its use.
Here is some information about Deet from the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry. From that site: “The most frequently reported symptoms of DEET toxicity in children were lethargy, headaches, tremors, involuntary movements, seizures, and convulsions.” From Wikipedia: “As a precaution, manufacturers advise that DEET products should not be used under clothing or on damaged skin, and that preparations be washed off after they are no longer needed or between applications.” There are many other sites that cite studies and research regarding the health effects of Deet, but likely I’m preaching to the choir on this blog so I won’t elaborate further.
So why do people use Deet? It’s often been touted as the most effective bug repellent. The effectiveness of citronella (which is one of the most popular ingredients in natural bug sprays) is debated, with the best result I’ve been able to find being 19 minutes.
A 2002 study by the University of North Carolina and the University of Florida (published in the New England Journal of Medicine), found that products containing about 24 per cent DEET protected people for almost four hours. By contrast, products with citronella provided just 19 minutes of protection. The study said the most effective natural repellents contained eucalyptus oil, which provided almost two hours of protection from bugs.
I have seen sprays available with eucalyptus oils, which doesn’t have the known toxicity of Deet and lasts about half the time. Another very interesting natural bug spray I have been using for the past couple of years with great luck is catnip. The insect-repellent qualities were actually first reported in the 1960′s by Thomas Eisner. More recently, two researchers reported their results of studies done on the effectiveness of catnip at the American Chemical Society in 2001. They actually found that catnip worked better than Deet. One thing to note is that while their results showed that catnip repelled more mosquitoes than Deet, it doesn’t say anything about how long that effectiveness will last.
Catnip is best known for making cats crazy. But is it safe for use on our skin? I haven’t found a lot of safety data for it. There are cautions for pregnant and lactating women to avoid it due to a lack of safety information, which basically means it could be safe, but we don’t know. However, it has been eaten and steeped in teas for generations for a variety of ailments, so it doesn’t seem to have to toxicity when ingested that Deet does. Also, cats are known to be much more sensitive than dogs and humans (much like canaries), and it has been established that catnip is safe for them.
Given all of the above, I’m fairly comfortable using catnip bug sprays, especially considering the alternatives. I try and keep it to a minimum, using them only when I’m walking in areas or at a time when I know there will be a lot of mosquitoes out. Mosquitoes love me normally, and I react strongly to their bites, getting enormous red welts wherever one of them has snacked. I try and wear long sleeves/pants, and spray my clothes rather than my skin. Meredith hasn’t seemed to get any bites yet, so we don’t spray her unless the mosquitoes are extremely bad (and again, only her clothes). I think we’ve only used it once on her.
I’ve found it very difficult to find bug sprays that aren’t citronella based. I don’t know how citronella got its reputation as a great bug spray considering the evidence that it really doesn’t work. So I did some searching and found some recipes for making your own, and thought I would share a couple of them. I’ve also added these to my Earth-Friendly Products page.
Catnip is easy to grow, and you can add the herbs to apple cider vinegar in a jar, shake frequently for two to three weeks, and then strain and rub the liquid on or put it in a spray bottle.
You can also use the essential oil. I’ve seen various combinations of oils suggested, including pennyroyal (with cautions not to use on pregnant women or small children), tea tree oil, eucalyptus, and cedarwood. Use a carrier oil as a base. Neem oil and soybean oil are also known to repel mosquitoes, so might be a good choice for the base. Even a 1% concentration of catnip oil has been shown to be effective. A 5-10% concentration would be about 2.5-5tsps of pure catnip oil to 1 cup of carrier oil.
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Interesting post. I’ve tried eucalyptus oil bug deterrents with some success but haven’t tried any citronella ones, oddly enough. I think because I just assumed they wouldn’t work. I wish I could remember the name of the one I tried in the states the last time I was down there. I hate bugs because they LOVE me. Going to our property up north out of bug season can still leave me with my skin covered in bitten welts! Hopefully my kids will take after my husband and be bothered little by the bugs.
[...] out of reach of children. Harmful if absorbed through the skin.” Remember what I said in an earlier post about cats being like canaries? Still applies here…) Then we got our pets and experienced [...]