Everything you ever wanted to know about bug spray (and then some): Part 1

Part 1

The weather is warmer, it’s time to hike and (more important) to forage in the woods for ramps and morels (and if you have some morels, I want to talk to you; you know where to find me).

I don’t like bug spray at all, DEET or no DEET, but I got  hideously sick last spring with ehrlichiosis (tick bite while looking for ramps); and this spring I’ve already had one tick bite (looking for morels). Everyone is saying this will be an extra bad year for ticks, so I accept that this is the year when I have to use bug spray every time I leave the house.

My friend Tara just bought a lovely new spray made with essential oils, including oil of lavender. It smells great but does it work?

The answer, according to research by people who are trying to stop the spread of serious bug-borne diseases, is that some plant oils work OK but only two are even remotely as effective as DEET.

The two non-DEET options that have plant origins are effective enough that they are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) — and you can find them easily at your local pharmacy. 

Because I’ve collected so much information on this subject, this article is going to run in several smallish installments. If you are very tuned in to the new “binge streaming” culture and can’t wait for four weeks to read the whole thing, send me an email. 

Pros and cons of DEET

First let’s talk about DEET and then we’ll move on to those two natural alternatives that are also effective.

DEET has been considered the most effective bug repellent on planet Earth since it was invented by the U.S. government in 1946 to protect soldiers stationed in areas where bugs were more than just a nuisance.

But there is something about DEET that is unsettling; it’s one of those products that people truly believe will kill them if they use it. 

It isn’t technically listed as a carcinogen, but it also isn’t definitely listed as something that will not cause cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency calls it “not classifiable as a human carcinogen;” the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) explains that what that means is “there is not enough evidence to say that it does or does not cause cancer.”

When you do research online about bug sprays, one thing you realize quickly is that most people who weigh in on their preferences are hardcore hikers and boaters, who go to remote places in the world with clouds of biting bugs that could be carrying some serious diseases. They use a lot of bug spray, they reapply it multiple times a day and they use it day after day. 

That’s not my profile, and if it isn’t yours either then the chances are pretty good that you and I aren’t going to use enough DEET to endanger our health. 

Also, there doesn’t seem to be evidence that those outdoorsy folk who are using DEET products are part of a giant cancer cluster. And the NPIC is quite confident that DEET disintegrates in your body in less than 24 hours and then it slips completely away in your urine. That’s kind of reassuring.

Two things about DEET give me pause, however. 

One is that no one knows exactly how it works (or if they know, they’re not saying). Definitely DEET does not kill  insects; it’s a bug repellent, so it just keeps them off your body. But no one can say with certainty what keeps them off you. 

It’s likely that it works by confusing the bugs so that they can’t find you, possibly because they cloud the insects’ smell receptors. I don’t even really need to know how it works; I just don’t want scientists to say to me, “We don’t know how this works but it’s probably safe to use.”

The other thing that worries me is the warning from the NPIC that DEET “may dissolve plastic or other synthetic materials such as clothing, wrist watches and other objects.” I mean, come on.

And you’re not supposed to use it if you have acne or any other kind of skin condition or any open sores or wounds. 

So the pro on DEET is that it definitely works and that it probably won’t kill you — especially if you don’t drink it, spray it in your eyes or use it constantly and in a very heavy concentration.

But the con on DEET is that it will melt your watch and no one quite knows why it does that or why even bugs don’t want to be around it.

In the next installment: Essential oils and PMD
and PMD