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Index of Subjects
To: Sustainable Maritimes (sust-mar) From: "Anne Campbell" <acc.fitness@ns.sympatico.ca>
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____________________________________________________________________________
When mosquitoes bug you this summer, here are a few suggestions.
[ -or- to DEET or not to DEET]
Useful quote-
"Mosquitoes stay away from Lemon Balm, guaranteed. I've used it for seven
years.
Down the pathway, in front of the deck, down beside the shed. Mosquitoes
won't cross it."
-Larry Taylor, Inquiry Officer - Public Information Centre, Ontario
Ministry of Environment
This quote appeared in the 2003 Home & Garden Catalogue (p. 11) from
T&T Seeds, Box 1710 Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3P6, 204-895-9964,
<http://www.ttseeds.com>
Lemon Balm, or Melissa officinalis, can grow coast to coast in Canada (zone
4), it is a hardy perennial, self-seeding and sweet smelling, and makes a
tasty tea.
Little Lemon Balm, hated by mosquitoes and beloved by butterflies, comes
into its own.
=========
Catnip apparently has been found to be 6 times more effective than DEET in
repelling mosquitoes in preliminary studies.
=========
PEER REVIEWED abstracts on DEET --
The peer reviewed abstracts below suggest serious complications
such as toxic encephalopathy and deaths from use of DEET
--most often seen in children.
Adult cases are also cited. Although these cases may be rare,
one almost never sees possible complications such as these reported
in the press or cited by government agencies.
Of great concern to health advocates are the secrecy and misleading terms
given to the unknown ingredients in products, often called "inert"
ingredient,
"other" ingredients, or "other compounds", that are often toxic.
Manufacturers argue that secrecy is necessary to protect product trade
secrets. Health
advocates say this argument is specious due to patent protections and to
readily available
reverse-engineering technologies that make it possible for competitors to
determine the
chemical makeup of any product.
Not just consumers are worried about secret ingredients. Medical emergency
teams lose precious time trying to determine what other chemicals are
involved in a given exposure. Look at the last entry below the peer reviewed
abstracts on DEET, under the heading "Emergency Medical Treatment" and note
that the
chemicals in DEET products, referred to as "OTHER COMPOUNDS", may play an
important role
in toxic effects seen in emergency health situations.
A. Hotz
***************************************
Selected peer reviewed articles below were found at:
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/
click on HSDB, search word <DEET>
DEET
CASRN: 134-62-3
For other data, click on the Table of Contents
Human Toxicity Excerpts :
Several cases of a deet-associated toxic encephalopathy have been
reported in young females. A 3.5 year old girl suffered a bizarre
illness after all of a 180 ml aerosol can of deet had been used each
evening for 2 weeks to spray her and her night clothes and bedding.
Because of this exposure and because careful medical examination
failed to suggest any other cause, the possibility was considered that
deet was the cause. However, it was pointed out that, even if the
child had absorbed all of the deet discharged from the aerosol can,
the dosage of active e ingredient would have been only 0.14 ml/kg/day,
a level tolerated by animals. The signs were disorientation,
staggering gait, slurred speech, and episodes consisting of stiffening
into a sitting position, crying out, extending the extremities,
flexing the fingers, and dorsiflexing the toes. Therapy, which began 1
day after onset, was symptomatic. Recovery was complete in 4 days.
[Hayes, W.J., Jr., E.R. Laws, Jr., (eds.). Handbook of Pesticide
Toxicology. Volume 3. Classes of Pesticides. New York, NY: Academic
Press, Inc., 1991. 1503]**PEER REVIEWED**
***********************
A five-yr-old girl, sprayed with DEET nightly for three months,
developed headaches and slurred speech, progressing to athetosis,
shaking, screaming, and convulsions. She died 24 days after
hospitalization. At autopsy the brain showed generalized edema with
intense congestion of meninges. There was no demyelination and no
evidence of meningitis. An 18-mo-old child who ingested an unknown
quantity of a liquid prepn of DEET exhibited similar signs and
symptoms but eventually recovered.
[Gosselin, R.E., R.P. Smith, H.C. Hodge. Clinical Toxicology of
Commercial Products. 5th ed. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1984.,p.
II-346]**PEER REVIEWED**
***********************
Seizures and acute behavior change developed in an 8 yr old girl
following exposure to Muskol and Off insect repellents. She recovered
within 3 days with supportive treatment; including anticonvulsant
(phenytoin) medication. The assumed toxic agent was
N,N-diethyltoluamide.
[Roland EH et al; Can Med Assoc J 132 (2): 155-56 (1985)]**PEER
REVIEWED**
************************
General -- covers both adults and children (heading added):
Manifestation of toxic encephalopathy have been behavioral disorders
including headache, restlessness, crying spells, mania, stupor
progressing to coma, ataxia, hyperreflexia, tachypnea, hypotension,
tremors, and writhing convulsions (athetosis). Some cases have shown
flaccid paralysis and areflexia. Deaths have occurred following very
large doses. Blood levels of DEET found in fatal systemic poisonings
have ranged from 168 to 240 mg/l. Interpretation of DEET toxicity in
some fatal cases has been complicated by effects of simultaneously
ingested ethanol, tranquilizers, and other drugs. One well documented
case of anaphylactic reaction to DEET has been reported. One fatal
case of encephalopathy in a child heterozygous for ornithine carbamoyl
transferase deficiency resembled Reyes syndrome, but the postmortem
appearance of the liver was not characteristic of the syndrome.
[Morgan DP; Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings. 4th
ed, p.50 EPA 540/9-88-001. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, March 1989]**PEER REVIEWED**
**********
Adult exposures -- military and civilian personnel (This heading is
added):
BULLOUS ERUPTIONS, SKIN NECROSIS, & PROLONGED DISABILITY WAS REPORTED
IN MILITARY PERSONNEL IN SOUTH VIETNAM. ALTHOUGH AN INSECT HAD BEEN
PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT WHOLLY THE CULPRIT, DIETHYL TOLUAMIDE, INSECT
REPELLENT USED PRODUCES SIMILAR ERUPTIONS. CAUTION ADVISED.
[LAMBERG SI, MULRENNAN JA; ARCH DERMATOL 100 (5): 582-6 (1969)]**PEER
REVIEWED**
*********************
A 42 year old woman with no prior atopic history touched a companion
who had just sprayed himself with repellent containing 52% deet.
Generalized pruritus rapidly developed and progressed to generalized
angioedema. The woman became nauseated and unconscious en route to
hospital, where her blood pressure was found to be 70/40 mm Hg. She
responded to treatment with epinephrine, diphenhydramine, and in
corticosteroids. Periorbital edema developed after another exposure to
deet I week later. In a controlled setting, a small amount of deet in
isopropyl alcohol was applied to the patient's forearm. Pruritus
occurred in the treated area within 15 sec and or progressed to
localized urticaria despite immediate washing of the arm. The patient
was treated with epinephrine and diphenhydramine when she reported
pruritis of lips and the contralateral arm. She responded to therapy,
but the localized urticaria lasted for over 1 hr. Isopropyl alcohol
alone elicited non response.
[Hayes, W.J., Jr., E.R. Laws, Jr., (eds.). Handbook of Pesticide
Toxicology. Volume 3. Classes of Pesticides. New York, NY: Academic
Press, Inc., 1991. 1503]**PEER REVIEWED**
****************************
A 30 year old man following self-medication with 75% deet for a
papular, truncal, erythematous rash that was later diagnosed as
pityriasis rosea. It was his recollection that he had used deet
successfully to treat a similar condition 4 years previously.
Beginning 2 weeks prior to admission to the hospital, he daily applied
deet on one side of his body and entered a homemade sauna for 60-90
min; he emerged from the sauna, treated the other side of his body,
and reentered the sauna for another 60-90 min. This procedure was
continued for 1 week. He was occasionally lethargic and incoherent
following the deet-sauna treatment. Four days prior to admission, he
developed marked personality changes that included delusions of
grandeur and verbal aggressivity. He became more irritable and
belligerent and was admitted to the hospital, where he required
seclusion because of his violent behavior. His condition worsened and
was diagnosed as acute manic psychosis.
[Hayes, W.J., Jr., E.R. Laws, Jr., (eds.). Handbook of Pesticide
Toxicology. Volume 3. Classes of Pesticides. New York, NY: Academic
Press, Inc., 1991. 1504]**PEER REVIEWED**
****************************
Serious adverse effects have occurred when used under tropical
conditions, when it was applied to areas of skin that were occluded
during sleep (mainly the antecubital and popliteal fossae). Under
these conditions, the skin became red and tender, then exhibited
blistering and erosion, leaving painful weeping denuded areas that
were slow to heal. Permanent scarring resulted from most of these
severe reactions.
[Morgan DP; Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings. 4th
ed, p.50 EPA 540/9-88-001. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, March 1989]**PEER REVIEWED**
****************************
Toxic encephalopathic reactions have apparently occurred in rare
instances following dermal application, mainly in children who were
intensively treated. The more frequently cause of systemic toxicity
has been ingestion, deliberate in adults, accidental in young
children.
[Morgan DP; Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings. 4th
ed, p.50 EPA 540/9-88-001. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, March 1989]**PEER REVIEWED**
********************************
Emergency Medical Treatment
Clinical Effects:
SUMMARY OF EXPOSURE
0.2.1.1 ACUTE EXPOSURE
DEET - The most commonly used product in this class is
N,N-Diethyl-M-toluamide, commonly referred to as DEET.
Toxicity is
primarily neurologic (encephalopathy, seizures, movement
disorders, coma) and may occur via oral or dermal exposure, most commonly
in children.
Fatalities from ingestion and chronic dermal application of
DEET
containing products are rare, but have been described.
OTHER COMPOUNDS may include the following:
1. ETHYL HEXANEDIOL is only slightly absorbed across the skin.
However, it is moderately toxic on ingestion, causing CNS
depression, liver, and kidney injury.
2. INDALONE may cause slight skin irritation, plus kidney and
liver damage
following protracted application to the skin of animals.
3. DIMETHYL PHTHALATE has a low order of systemic toxicity.
When the volatilized esters are inhaled, they are
moderately irritating to the
mucous membranes. Extreme oral doses cause CNS depression
in animals.
4. N-OCTYL BICYCLOHEPTENE DICARBOXIMIDE is not irritating
to skin; extreme doses cause excitement, then
depression.
5. 2,3,4,5-BIS (2-BUTYLENE)TETRAHYDRO-2-FURALDEHYDE and
DI-N-PROPYL ISOCINCHOMERONATE have low systemic toxic
potential in mammals, and are not significantly
irritating.
6. N,N-DIETHYLPHENYLACETAMIDE (DEPA) - Hepatotoxic in
animals in large doses.
7. VEHICLES - Ethyl and isopropyl alcohols and freon used as
vehicles may contribute significantly to toxicity of some formulations.
*******************************
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____________________________________________________________________________
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Index of Subjects