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Using Insect Repellents Safely
Mosquitoes, biting flies, and ticks are annoying and can pose a serious
health risk. Mosquitoes can transmit diseases like Western equine
encephalitis and St. Louis encephalitis. Biting flies can inflict a
painful bite that can swell and become infected. Ticks can transmit Lyme
disease and other serious ailments. When properly used, insect repellents
can discourage biting insects from landing on treated skin or clothing.
Choosing Insect
Repellents
Insect repellents are available in various concentrations and
formulations--aerosol and pump-spray products, liquids, creams, lotions,
and sticks. An extra-strength product may not provide extra protection.
Although you may need to apply it more often, a lower-strength product
lessens your chances of an adverse reaction to a chemical. You may also
want to consider non-chemical ways to deter biting insects--screens,
netting, long sleeves, closed shoes, and slacks.
Check the container to ensure that the product bears a U.S.
EPA-approved label and registration number. This means the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has approved the product for safe and
effective use. Follow label directions carefully, use no more than the
amount directed, under the conditions specified, and for the purpose
listed. For example, if you need a tick repellent, make sure that the
product label lists this use. If ticks are not listed, the product may not
work well against them.
Using Insect
Repellents Safely
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation recommends the following
precautions when using insect repellents:
- You should read all label directions before using the product and
follow them carefully.
- Not all repellents are intended to be applied to the skin. If
application is allowed, you should apply repellents only to exposed skin
and/or clothing (as directed on the product label). You shouldn't use
them under clothing. Read the label carefully. Some repellents damage
certain fabrics and plastics (including vinyl car seats).
- You shouldn't use repellents over broken or irritated skin, or apply
to eyes and mouth. With young children, do not apply to their hands,
which often end up in their mouths. You should avoid breathing a
repellent spray. Do not use near food.
- Although reactions to repellents are rare, it is always best to use
them sparingly. Heavy application and saturation are unnecessary for
effectiveness.
- Start with a low-concentration product and reapply if necessary.
Better to build up to an effective level of protection than to start
with more than you need.
- Once you're back indoors, wash treated skin with soap and water.
This is particularly important when you use repellents repeatedly in a
day or on consecutive days.
- If you suspect that you or your child are reacting to an insect
repellent, wash treated skin and then call your local poison control
center. If you go to a doctor, take the repellent container with you.
Avoiding Ticks and Lyme
Disease
Lyme disease has become the leading tick-borne illness in the U.S.
Although it is a more serious problem in the Northeast, there were 436
cases of Lyme disease reported in California from 1992 through 1994. The
Western black-legged tick, the species that most often transmits the
disease, is found in 55 of California's 58 counties. This species commonly
bites people as well as animals. With proper precautions, Lyme disease is
preventable.
- Adult ticks are found on grasses and other low vegetation from
October through June. Immature nymph ticks are found in leaf litter from
February through August.
- When in an infested area, tick repellents can help. Their
effectiveness is greatly increased if you also use a permethrin-containing
insecticide designed to be applied to clothing rather than your skin.
Follow label instructions carefully--for example, wait to let the
product dry before you wear the clothes.
- Tuck pants cuffs into boots or socks. Wear long sleeves and
light-colored clothing which makes it easier to spot ticks.
- Stay to the center of hiking paths, and avoid grassy and marshy
woodland areas.
- Inspect yourself, your children, and your pets for clinging ticks
after leaving an infested area. Ticks are hard to see. Nymphs are the
size of a sesame seed, adults about 1/8 inch long. If you discover a
tick feeding, do not panic. Studies show that an infected tick does not
usually transmit the Lyme organism during the first 24 hours. Even in
heavily infested areas, only 1 to 2 percent of biting ticks carry the
disease.
- Remove the tick with tweezers, grasping it close to the skin and
applying steady upward pressure to make sure you remove all parts of the
tick. Then disinfect the area.
- If you suspect Lyme disease or its symptoms (a rash that sometimes
looks like a "bull's-eye" of red circles, and flu-like symptoms),
contact your doctor immediately.
California Environmental Protection Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PESTICIDE REGULATION
1020 N Street, Room 100
Sacramento, CA 95814-5624
Phone: (916) 445-4300
http://www.cdpr.ca.gov 8/97
Every effort has been made to provide correct,
complete and up-to-date pest management information for New York State in
this publication. Changes in pesticide regulations thus occur constantly,
and human errors are still possible. These recommendations are not a
substitute for pesticide labeling. Before using any product, chemical, or
pesticide, read carefully, understand, and follow strictly any
instructions on the product label. The above information has been obtained
from sources believed to be reliable. Neither the Fair Harbor Community
Association nor any employee of FairHarbor.com has verified the
correctness of any information contained herein. |