The Safety of DEET
(from the West Nile Virus List Serve, Cornell University, May 2003)
(from the West Nile Virus List Serve, Cornell University, May 2003)
(1)
"Despite the substantial attention paid by the lay press every year to the safety of DEET, this repellent has been subjected to more scientific and toxicologic scrutiny than any other repellent substance. The extensive accumulated toxicologic data on DEET have been reviewed elsewhere. DEET has a remarkable safety profile after 40 years of use and nearly 8 billion human applications. Fewer than 50 cases of serious toxic effects have been documented in the medical literature since 1960, and three quarters of them resolved without sequelae. Many of these cases of toxic effects involved long-term, heavy, frequent, or whole-body application of DEET. No correlation has been found between the concentration of DEET used and the risk of toxic effects."
Mark S. Fradin, M.D., and John F. Day, Ph.D.
Comparative Efficacy of Insect Repellents against Mosquito Bites
New England Journal of Medicine,
Volume 347:13-18
July 4, 2002
(2)
In support of my position that DEET has been one of the greatest boons to the prevention of human disease, I have attached some articles to make you think about how many tens of thousands of lives have been saved by this product over the past 50 years, to put it in perspective with the adverse effects reported in a handful of cases, usually with severe misuse of the product involved. There are lots more, and lots better articles than this. But it's a start.
1: Durrheim DN, Govere JM. Malaria outbreak control in an African village by community application of 'deet' mosquito repellent to ankles and feet. Med Vet Entomol. 2002 Mar;16(1):112-5. PMID: 11963976
2: Holzer RB. Protection against biting mosquitoes. Ther Umsch. 2001 Jun;58(6):341-6. Review. German. PMID: 11441693
3: Carnevale P. Protection of travellers against biting arthropod vectors. Bull Soc Pathol Exot. 1998;91 (5Pt 1-2):474-85. Review. French. PMID: 10078390
4: Le Goff G, Robert V, Carnevale P. Evaluation of a DEET-based repellent on 3 vectors of malaria in central Africa. Sante. 1994 Jul-Aug;4(4):269-73. French. PMID: 7921700
5: Curtis CF, Lines JD, Ijumba J, Callaghan A, Hill N, Karimzad MA. The relative efficacy of repellents against mosquito vectors of disease. Med Vet Entomol. 1987 Apr;1(2):109-19. PMID: 2908762
Jack B. Gingrich, Ph.D.
University of Delaware
Dept. of Entomology/Applied Ecology
Newark, DE
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