Bugs and bug spray safety
Mosquitoes and tics can carry diseases such as West Nile disease and Lyme Disease. Bug spray is important for children to use whenever they are outside.
Tips for how to choose a bug spray:
- There are many types of bug sprays available for purchase. The bug sprays with DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) are most effective. Higher strengths of DEET will provide longer protection, but do not change the short-term effectiveness of the bug spray.
- Children younger than 2 months should not use products containing DEET.
- Children ages 2 months to 1 year should use products with less than 7.5 percent DEET.
- Children older than 1 can use a product that contains up to 15 percent DEET on their skin if longer exposure is expected.
- Products that contain up to 30 percent DEET can be applied to clothing, shoes and strollers, but not directly to the skin.
- Insect repellant should only be applied once a day.
Insect repellant product information
|
Product |
Active ingredient |
Approximate length of protection |
|
OFF® |
DEET, 23.8% |
5 hours |
|
Sawyer Controlled Release® |
DEET, 20% |
4 hours |
|
OFF! Skintastic® |
DEET, 6.65% |
2 hours |
|
Bite Blocker for Kids® |
Soybean oil, 2% |
1 ½ hours |
|
OFF! Skintastic for Kids® |
DEET, 4.75% |
1 ½ hours |
|
Skin-so-Soft Bug Guard Plus® |
IR3535, 7.5% |
23 minutes |
|
Skin-so-Soft Bug Guard® |
Citronella, 0.05% |
10 minutes |
National Pesticide Information Center.
Tips for safe bug spray use:
- Read labels carefully and keep sprays in a safe place out of the reach of children.
- Put the lotion or pump-sprayed repellent on your hands first and then spread onto your child's skin.
- Heavy amounts are not needed for the bug spray to work well, be careful not to use too much.
- Apply the repellant to your child's clothing, shoes, socks and strollers as well.
- Be sure to wash your hands after application of the insect repellant and avoid putting the repellant on the hands of young infants who frequently put their hands in their mouth.
- Avoid the combination bug spray and sunscreen products.
- Wash the bug spray off with soap and water after going inside.
- Wash all treated clothing.
- Apply insect repellant only once daily.
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