Maybe you, like me suffer from insect bites in the summer, bad enough when I am at home but last year on holiday in Greece, I was eaten alive! Well before you start spraying on the insect repellent I saw this recently which might make me think twice! It seems that Deet, the active ingredient in most insect repellents, may damage our central nervous system. So say French researchers who made the discovery are now calling for an urgent review into the safety of the products, which they describe as ‘neurotoxic’, and are also asking for active research to identify safer alternatives. Research team leader Vincent Corbel, from an institute in Montpellier, said: It was found that deet was not simply a behaviour-modifying chemical but it also inhibited the activity of a key central nervous system enzyme in both insects and the mammals trying to ward them off. The research team found that the same mechanism that is so effective against insects such as mosquitoes has the same effect on humans. Its toxicity seems to be magnified when it is used in combination with other insecticides.


I think I might be looking for some more natural alternatives, anyone got any ideas?

I read in "Science Daily" about Natural alternative for the mosquito repellent, it is a Derivatives of isolongifolenone which has been widely and safely used as fragrances in cosmetics, perfumes, deodorants, and paper products, and new processing methods may make it as cheap to produce as DEET.Researcher said that this is more effective against the mosquitoes then the widely used Deet, and also a non toxic product.

That is very useful, Malaria is such a problem in Africa anything and everything that can be done to help that situation should be tried. We have just had our 'red nose day' here in the UK where people raise money for charity and this year the focus was on Africa and the number of children who die from Malaria every year. Heartbreaking!

For the want of a simple mosquito net children lose their lives. A repellent though would be so much better because nets can get holes in them!