Yeah---the OFF! brand Family Care has between 5%-15% DEET, and the Clean Feel contains 5% Picardin...these terms are more about branding than about the ingredients they contain. I wrote about the different pesticides (Toxicity Reports for Insect Repellents), and honestly...picardin and DEET are categorized as only "slightly toxic". They are most likely fine for most children and adults, but in my quest to find an insect repellent that was categorized as "practically non-toxic"...that is why I was leaning more towards your other suggestion of using essential oils (but, those that actually work!).
I have not tried mixing the essential oil with lotion, and may consider doing that. So far, the Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (sold as Repel) has worked great...but the caveat is it is categorized as "highly toxic" for the eyes, but "practically non-toxic" for all other types of exposure/absorption.
Thanks for the suggestion to mix the oils with lotion...I am curious what harm these substances would do if they got into one's eyes, so keeping it away from the back of a little kid's hands and off their face (where it could drip down into eyes) is probably the safest way to go.
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Thanks for your information!
Yeah---the OFF! brand Family Care has between 5%-15% DEET, and the Clean Feel contains 5% Picardin...these terms are more about branding than about the ingredients they contain. I wrote about the different pesticides (Toxicity Reports for Insect Repellents), and honestly...picardin and DEET are categorized as only "slightly toxic". They are most likely fine for most children and adults, but in my quest to find an insect repellent that was categorized as "practically non-toxic"...that is why I was leaning more towards your other suggestion of using essential oils (but, those that actually work!).
I have not tried mixing the essential oil with lotion, and may consider doing that. So far, the Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (sold as Repel) has worked great...but the caveat is it is categorized as "highly toxic" for the eyes, but "practically non-toxic" for all other types of exposure/absorption.
Thanks for the suggestion to mix the oils with lotion...I am curious what harm these substances would do if they got into one's eyes, so keeping it away from the back of a little kid's hands and off their face (where it could drip down into eyes) is probably the safest way to go.
October 1, 2009 - 1:08pmThis Comment
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