Q: I take my infant on walks in the wood but am afraid of chemicals in repellents. What can I do to keep the bugs away?
A: There are several common bug repellents on the market and for the most part they depend upon the chemical DEET. Although DEET has an excellent safety record, you are right to be concerned about putting it on your infant as the amount she takes up may be greater than in older children or adults. You are also right to be concerned about insect bites—ticks carry Lyme disease and mosquitos can carry West Nile virus, so it’s important to minimize contact with these vectors. There are three types of advice in your case: 1) Avoid high mosquito/tick situations: for mosquitos this means early morning and late afternoon; take your walks when the mosquitos are not out; for ticks it’s not the time of the day as much as it is tall grass and dense vegetation. Stay to the middle of trails during tick season. Being carried well above ground level cuts down on your baby’s risk of a tick bite. Nevertheless, make sure to do a thorough tick search on her and yourself when coming back from the woods. 2) Natural repellents: these products are typically based upon essential oils such as citronella or lemongrass and can have some efficacy that varies from person to person. 3) You can use DEET-based products if your child is over 2 months of age. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends for infants over 2 months of age to keep the DEET content under 30 percent (most common brands are in the range of 5 percent to 10 percent, but read the label) and to apply it only to exposed skin and clothing, avoiding the face and hands. Once back home, wash up right away. These are just prudent precautions as health effects associated with using DEET in children have been rare.
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Dr. Gary Ginsberg is a public health toxicologist in Connecticut and a lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health. He has written a book geared toward the general public, “What’s Toxic, What's Not,” and also has a website, whatstoxic.com, to answer questions about chemicals found in consumer products and in our homes.
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The Yale School of Public Health invites you to submit questions for Dr. Ginsberg as part of this recurring monthly series. Contact us through Facebook or by e-mailing Michael Greenwood at michael.greenwood@yale.edu