New Mosquito Repellants
Skeeter beaters
Repellant news
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is more worried about West Nile virus this year than it was in 2004. How do I know that? Because all of a sudden, they’re granting their blessings to a bunch of new mosquito repellants – whereas for the last 10 years, only those containing the chemical DEET were ordained by the organization as safe and effective.
But since West Nile Virus has spread across the entire country and has infected more than 12,000 Americans in the last 2 years, two new kinds of bug-repellant formulations are now CDC-approved: Those made with a less-caustic-than-DEET chemical called picaridin and those formulated from natural oil of lemon eucalyptus, according to a recent Associated Press story.
Of course, both of these products have been widely used in just about every other country in the world for decades, but not here in America. Why? Because the feds maintain these other repellants aren’t as effective as DEET, or even proven to be safe. And since we all seem to blindly follow recommendations and guidelines issued by the federal government – the same people who brought us the Fat Pyramid and the Vioxx scandal, mind you – sales of DEET alternatives have languished in the U.S. for years.
I wonder if the fact that DEET was developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1946 has anything to do with it heretofore being the CDC’s only recommended mosquito repellant? Could they be collecting a royalty from S.C. Johnson (maker of the popular OFF! brand of insect repellant) and other companies? Nah
But I digress – we were talking about a couple of NEW repellants, weren’t we? And the fact that the Feds have concluded that they’re safe and effective. Indeed, in recent releases, the CDC has called picaridin “comparable” to similar concentrations of DEET, and has citied a pair of recent studies showing oil of lemon eucalyptus to be equal to low-concentration DEET products.
I’ve often recommended DEET in the past – but from now on I may be tempted to try these new repellants, especially the eucalyptus-based ones, for mosquito protection. For one thing, I like to use natural products whenever I can, and secondly, the AP article claims that DEET has been linked to brain damage. Another piece I recently read implicates the chemical in Gulf War Syndrome. I’d never heard these allegations before, and am not sure of the information’s source (I’ll research it, to be sure), but why take a chance, right – especially if there are effective alternatives?
All this should be a moot point, though. If the Feds would really do what’s right in the war on West Nile and other mosquito-borne illnesses, we wouldn’t need mosquito repellants at all. Keep reading
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Lyings and Biters and Bats, oh my!
It’s been a while since I revisited one of my core issues. But in light of the spreading West Nile threat and the CDC’s blessing of several new mosquito repellants, it seems wholly appropriate. I’m talking, of course, about the wrongful vilification of DDT, the miracle-pesticide banned in the 1970s because of trumped-up horse-hockey about thinning eggshells!
To recap what I’ve written before:
There is NO scientific proof that DDT thins eggshells of eagles or any other feathered critter. It’s a sensationalist charge based on junk science, seized upon and furthered with great success (but at our peril) by the misguided green lobby.
There is no proof that DDT causes birth defects, cancer, or any other health issues in humans. In fact, the exact opposite may be true: Studies have shown “Vitamin DDT” to protect laboratory animals against leukemia and breast cancer.
In 1970, the National Academy of Sciences credited DDT with preventing half a billion human deaths from malaria.
Canada’s Fraser Institute estimates that DDT could have prevented as many as 240 million malaria infections in 2003 alone.
To date, I’ve seen nothing that would make me change my mind about this lifesaving chemical. And believe it or not, I’m not entirely alone on this issue.
It doesn’t matter, though. The enviro-Nazis have so successfully linked in our collective consciousness the recovery of the Bald Eagle to the demise of DDT that it’s more likely we’ll drain all the mosquito-infested “wetlands” (about a million-to-one shot in itself) before bringing back this lifesaver. And even if by some miracle it came out that all the evidence against DDT were false, the greenies would work us all into a lather about the plight of the bats – after all, if mosquitoes went away, what would the poor bats eat?
Meanwhile, Americans are dying of West Nile in ever-larger numbers. Seems wrong to me – but to the priority-challenged green lobby, it must seem like justice.
DDTermined to remain above the mosquito in the “food chain,”
William Campbell Douglass II, MD
