What is the difference between the chemicals in bug spray?

Question

The kind you spray on yourself to keep bugs away. I have 15% DEET and 5% Picardin in my cupboard right now and I know there's others. Do some work better than others? Are some more harmful to people than others? Which one should I pick if I had a selection?

Answer 1

DEET doesn't cause skin cancer, it supposedly causes "softening of the brain," whatever that is, and that's disputable. It's still on the market after all. Skin cancer, you can't make this garbage up!?

Chemicals? DEET is the chemical. There's nothing else for application to skin that works as well if at all. All your other options are based on herbs and anecdotal evidence. DEET is the only thing that has stood up to scientific study.

Other options include covering your body entirely in nylon thick enough to prevent mosquitoes from biting through, wearing a hat and mosquito head net and sleeping in a tent.

Answer 2

I use Herbal Armor All Terrain it is made of natural ingredients and it really works.  

Check out www.cosmeticsdatabase.com to compare the ingredients in the different sprays.  You can also just type in "bug spray" and it will bring up every product in that category that is known to man.  You can then sort your results by the safest.  Zero or 1 is the safest, with 10 being the worst.  IIRC All Terrain is a 2 and DEET products are a 7.  

Answer 3

I bought some Cutter with Picardin last year and IT DIDN'T WORK AT ALL. I mean, it didn't work at all!

DEET is the way to go. . . from my experience,the middle range of percentages works perfectly well - you need at least 15%; i've found that the 'family' kind for kids doesn't have enough DEET in it to repel persistent mosquitos and ticks.

Answer 4

DEET is Diethyl-meta-toluamide. The Center for Disease Control suggests a concentration of 35%-55% for effective protection against pathogen carrying insects. Higher concentrations of DEET do not work better, but rather they work longer. DEET works in a manner that inhibits insects' nerves from detecting you. DEET may cause skin irritation and has been the speculative cause in a few medical cases involving seizures. It is a neurotoxin, so some people may have an adverse reaction. However, if used in the manner stated on the directions, DEET should pose few risks and I have found it to be the most effective repellent overall.

Citronella, Peppermint, Lemongrass, Lavender, etc. etc. Simply mask you from insects, but not well. They require frequent reapplication and are much less effective than a chemical agent.

Things like "Buzz Off" found on shirts, hats, etc. are pheromones. You can buy the spray to treat your clothing. This stuff works by giving off a pheromone that makes you unattractive to insects. I don't quite understand how it works, but it does work pretty well. There are lanterns and electronic devices that also emit a pheromone. I have used these and they work surprisingly well.

Answer 5

DEET isn't good for your skin. it can give you skin cancer. YOu shouldn't get anything over 35% DEET. The brand Off works good. The one you should get is Deep woods. it has 35% DEET and the rest is other ingredient that works well.

Answer 6

I don't put anything on my skin but sunscreen I spray the repellents around all the tent openings and on the screens on my hat and on my shirt collar and shoes. there is a toxic base found in every chemical and reactions to skin and irritation to eyes and throat are common from contact. (if fleas plague you) eucalypus branches will keep them away. water in cups will also drown them when they are hopping around the edges of rooms along the walls. Just don't throw the water into the yard flush it. (insects onlt temporarilly drown when they dehydrate they come back to life) if it's mosquitos? I hear that beer drinkers are left pretty much alone while diet coke drinkers attract them... Natural remedies are available on line and in the library