How to Select an Effective Bug Spray – With or Without DEET

Choosing a safe but potent insect repellent to protect against mosquito- and tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease, West Nile Virus and dengue fever can be challenging due to the many products on the market.

Only repellents containing either the active ingredients DEET or picaridin have research to back their effectiveness. While DEET's safety has been debated through the years, the Environmental Protection Agency deemed in 1998 and again in 2014 that, if used according to directions, it does not pose a danger to human health.

Continue reading to learn more about selecting an effective bug spray, written by Courtenay Harris Bond.

照片缩略图 博客作者
Staff Writer
Courtenay Harris Bond

Courtenay Harris Bond is the staff writer covering health for PhillyVoice. She enjoys writing about behavioral health, maternal health and inequities in the healthcare system, as well as human rights and criminal justice. A veteran daily newspaper reporter, Courtenay has also written for national outlets, including KFF Health News, Undark Magazine and Filter. She was a 2018 Rosalynn Carter Fellow for Mental Health Journalism and has master's degrees from Columbia Journalism School and the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.

媒体报道

Clothing and gear can be treated with a 0.5% permethrin spray, sold under names including Sawyer, Insect Shield and Ranger Ready.

Bay Area News Group
News Group

媒体报道

Sawyer’s picaridin lotion offers the longest protection windows on test — up to 14 hours against mosquitoes and ticks — and its creamy, low-odor formula goes on smooth and dries quickly.

Rachel Cavanaugh
作家

媒体报道

The Sawyer Squeeze and Cnoc Vecto made hydration easy.

Josh King
特约撰稿人