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NPR: permethrin + DEET a bad idea



Hi Carolinabirders,

When the first few ticks of the year appeared in the Piedmont tragically
early this past spring, we had a brief discussion here on Carolinabirds
about tick repellent. I seem to recall someone recommending permethrin.
There was just a story on the local NPR affiliate, WUNC, today, "The State
of Things", discussing mosquitoes, mosquito-borne diseases, and
repellents. One strong recommendation from the expert who was being
interviewed, a researcher from the Duke U. Medical Center who was working
with the military, was that permethrin should ***NOT*** be combined with
DEET! Apparently the two chemicals in combination have effects far more
severe than either individually, and the Dr. hinted that this combo might
even have been part of "Gulf War Syndrome". Just wanted to get that
warning out there...

No bird sightings to add, just a Phidippus audax (a really cool jumping
spider, black with white spots and metallic green mouthparts) on our back
door.

Good birding,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/