Source https://greatist.com/live/is-deet-safe?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_https–greatistcom–
DEET stinks. When I spray myself with Off! before heading out to a summer concert, I always end up coughing and wheezing, a victim of my own chemical warfare—but I also never return home with mosquito bites. The next time I’m at the store, though, I notice all those other options on the shelf, and half the time, I succumb to the allure of “all-natural essential oils” that smell lovely and promise to be just as effective at keeping bugs at bay. But after my next outing to a rooftop bar, I end up lying awake, scratching, wondering whether I just contracted West Nile or Zika.
I go through this dilemma every summer and have come to assume that whether I go with super-effective, DEET-filled bug repellents or gentle, better-for-you-seeming alternatives, I’m just picking my (literal) poison.
But I might be assuming wrong. The scientific and medical communities have looked at this time and again, and their overwhelming conclusion is that DEET is not going to kill us. To the contrary, it is one of the best ways to avoid mosquito- and tick-borne diseases. Sho…
Source https://greatist.com/live/is-deet-safe?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_https–greatistcom–
DEET stinks. When I spray myself with Off! before heading out to a summer concert, I always end up coughing and wheezing, a victim of my own chemical warfare—but I also never return home with mosquito bites. The next time I’m at the store, though, I notice all those other options on the shelf, and half the time, I succumb to the allure of “all-natural essential oils” that smell lovely and promise to be just as effective at keeping bugs at bay. But after my next outing to a rooftop bar, I end up lying awake, scratching, wondering whether I just contracted West Nile or Zika.
I go through this dilemma every summer and have come to assume that whether I go with super-effective, DEET-filled bug repellents or gentle, better-for-you-seeming alternatives, I’m just picking my (literal) poison.
But I might be assuming wrong. The scientific and medical communities have looked at this time and again, and their overwhelming conclusion is that DEET is not going to kill us. To the contrary, it is one of the best ways to avoid mosquito- and tick-borne diseases. Sho…
What Do You Think?
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