 Natural Bug Sprays: To Swat or Not?
Gear Test With Stephen Philbrick, Fishing Guide
JUST as some people prefer organic food, they
are also choosing insect repellents made without
DEET, a common pesticide. Their concern? Studies
have shown that DEET can cause neurological
problems, especially in children, if used in
high concentrations for prolonged periods.
But when used as directed on product labels,
DEET is not harmful, even to kids, according
to experts at the Federal Environmental
Protection Agency and Duke University Medical
Center, though they do not recommend using
it on children under 2.
For consumers who would rather avoid it,
there are more all-natural repellents than
ever before, made with ingredients like lemon
eucalyptus oil.
To see which ones worked best, Stephen Philbrick,
a licensed fishing guide and an owner of Bald
Mountain Camps in Oquossoc, Me., fished and
kayaked for a week, frequently reapplying each
product. Mr. Philbrick noted that the botanical
products didn’t create “a protection
zone around you” like the repellent he
usually wears — Deep Woods OFF! — but
they all worked, in varying degrees.
By WENDY KNIGHT
July 27, 2006
NYTimes
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BURT’S BEES HERBAL INSECT
REPELLENT $7.50, www.burtsbees.com.
To keep mosquitoes at bay, this
spray, above, had to be reapplied
every two and half hours, which
didn’t bother Mr. Philbrick.
The eucalyptus-heavy smell was “pleasant.” But
this repellent failed to stop deerflies
from biting despite diligent reapplication. |
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ALL TERRAIN HERBAL ARMOR SPRAY
$7.99, www.allterrainco.com. Mr.
Philbrick reapplied the product,
right, every two hours as directed
and “deerflies, mosquitoes,
everything, stayed away.” Including,
it seems, people. The spray’s
pungent citronella odor was the
culprit. Still, Mr. Philbrick prized
how its small flat bottle conveniently
fit into his hip pocket. |
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DERMATONE HERBAL INSECT REPELLENT
$9.10, www.dermatone.com. Mr. Philbrick
and a client applied this sweatproof
spray every two and a half hours
as directed while kayaking and
bird-watching and “could
sit and talk with nothing lighting
on us.” He rated this “one
of the better products” saying
it was “a little musky” and
was “easy to carry around.” |
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BUZZ AWAY EXTREME SPRAY $8.99,
www.quantumhealth.com. The maker
of this repellent claims it offers
eight-hour protection from mosquitoes.
Three was more like it, Mr. Philbrick
said. “Eight hours should
not be in their vocabulary,” he
added. Still it “really did
keep the bugs away.” He found
the smell inoffensive, but others
didn’t like its citronella
and cedar wood odor. |
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NATRAPEL PLUS SPRAY $4.79, www.tendercorp.com.
Mr. Philbrick felt that this air-compressed
spray needed too frequent reapplication — every
90 minutes — to be useful
on a long hike. Plus, it was only “fairly
effective” at repelling mosquitoes
and black flies. Its peppermint-laced
scent was “the best” of
those tested and sure to appeal
to the whole family. |
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BITE BLOCKER HERBAL SPRAY $8.85,
www.homs.com. The geranium-scented
product, billed as waterproof and
sweatproof, wasn’t, Mr. Philbrick
said. “If you sweat, bugs
will find that spot where the product
has dripped off.” The spray
worked well when applied every
three hours but it “couldn’t
possibly keep up” with the
mosquitoes one particularly bad
night. |
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