Worrywart

Insect-Zapping Apparel

It's one thing if you're stationed in a malaria zone or summering in Alaska where the mosquitos can pierce clothing like flying nail guns. Or maybe you can't keep your kids out of tick-ridden underbrush in the Rocky Mountains, Fire Island or Old Lyme. But do the rest of us need clothing and socks coated with insecticide?

In a word, no. Here's why:

1. It's a poison that can rub off on, and be absorbed by, your skin.

In a recent report on insecticided outdoor clothing, The New York Times mentioned the The Green Guide as objecting to the sale of the product because "its health and environmental effects are still in question." ("Insects Beware of Clothing That Bites Back," May 23, 2006) Actually, the adverse effects of permethrin, the synthetic insecticide used on "Buzz-off" and similar clothing, are very real. In humans, daily use can provoke skin, respiratory system and eye irritation, while abnormally high exposures can produce headache, nausea, numbness and dizziness. Permethrin is, after all, a nervous-system toxin that paralyzes insects. In the environment, permethrin (which belongs to a family of insecticides called pyrethroids) is particularly toxic to aquatic life, harming amphibians, and killing crustaceans, rainbow trout, salmon and others. For more information on permethrin's environmentally damaging effects, read "A Little Less Green?", Science News, February 4, 2006.

Permethrin is never supposed to be applied directly to skin, but rather just to clothing or mosquito netting. Yet the compound won't stay put: If you wear treated clothing, the chemical gradually comes out as you perspire and when the clothes are washed. Once it touches your skin, research has shown that permethrin can be absorbed by that highly permeable organ—not an appealing prospect, as it's a suspected hormone-disrupting chemical.

2. Permethrin-treated clothing can actually expose you and your children to biting insects by lulling you into a false sense of security.

*The clothing only protects the skin it covers, hence bare skin on the face, back of the neck, on hands, wrists and ankles can still get bit. So as with untreated long pants, the insecticided variety must be buttoned tightly at wrists and neck and tucked into socks, and exposed skin should be dabbed as needed with the least-toxic effective insect repellent you can find. (See below).

*Permethrin stays on clothes for about 25 washings—what if you don't keep count, and go out into the long grass in an outfit that's lost its special powers? The answer: Unless you're in Alaska, where they bite through clothes, untreated clothing blocks bites just as well, but you or your child may not take enough care against ticks that crawl up pantlegs or mosquitos that divebomb open necklines.

Better Ways to Avoid Bites

The best way to prevent insect bites and the diseases they carry is to stay away from insects, and train your kids to do so. Be aware that mosquitos are most numerous outdoors from twilight until dawn, so stay indoors then or cover up well. Fix leaks and drain the stagnant pools and puddles of water where they breed (check raingutters and flowerpot saucers, too). Ticks ambush their hosts in high grass and underbrush; even if your child wears protective clothing and insect repellent, if you're in a tick area, be sure everyone bathes and checks all over their bodies every night.

Permethrin has been found to be more effective against ticks than DEET (see below), so if you're going for a hike in an infested place you may want to opt for permethrin-treated socks and bandannas, say, rather than dabbing with DEET.

Insect repellents that can be applied directly to skin (but we would advise, not on face, and be sure to avoid eyes) range from DEET to products based on natural plant oils, such as Practical Nature's Tick & Bug Repellent (www.practicalnature.com) or Cutter Advanced Picaridin Spray (www.rei.com), with lemon eucalyptus oil as active ingredient (take care not to confuse with Cutter's DEET formulations). While broadly considered the most effective of these, DEET (N, N-diethylin-tolumide) can provoke skin irritations, mental confusion and asthma—I myself suffered an asthma attack after lightly spraying a DEET repellent on my clothes. Never again! The American Academy of Pediatrics advises using repellents with only 10% or less DEET on children, and forgoing it altogether for children younger than two years. Best bet: Put it on kerchiefs, socks or hat brims, as DEET is absorbed by skin. Always take care to wash DEET off at the end of the day or before eating, and don't reapply unless you absolutely need to. Overuse has resulted in poisonings.

Resources

"Outsmart the Biters," www.thegreenguide.com/doc.mhtml?i=108&s=insects

"Pest Control-Insect Repellents," www.thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=11

"Pest Control-Mosquitos," www.thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=16

© The Green Guide, 2008

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