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.

Beginning in 1985, a consortium of companies that manufacture and market products with DEET began conducting DEET health-effects studies, including short-term, long-term and human exposure studies. 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," says Bush president of a major insect repellent company. "In a study by the American Association of Poison Control Centers, only 0.16 of 1% of calls made to the Poison Control Centers over a five-year period involved DEET products. Of those, the majority were inconsequential. And of these few reported calls, no correlation was found between the number or severity of reported incidents and the concentration of DEET in products."

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," says Bush.