(Avoiding) The unofficial Alaska State Bird
So on the mosquito front- in the Arctic three years ago I didn’t even think about anything other than DEET. The airforce in the Yukon Territory- at least down south here- is only the observation lookout post for the hordes to come. Mosquitoes in the arctic are so bad they can reportedly kill a baby caribou, and drive adult caribou so mad they are driven on occasion to jump off cliffs. All that said, now that we’re pregnant, DEET sounds like a really bad idea. We thought we’d do some research.
Avoiding the Alaskan State Bird
There do seem to be some alternatives, thankfully- and we can consider the upcoming trip to the NE Arctic a test run. National Geographic reports on two natural alternatives which have passed muster- Cutter Advanced with picaridin and Spectrum, OFF! Botanicals, Repel Lemon Eucalyptus, and Flight Bight Plant-Based Insect Repellent with an oil of lemon eucalyptus based repellent. The CDC has approved both of these as effective repellents and alternatives to DEET. This is not new news- this article was published in summer 2005.
Other alternatives seem to provide possibilities as well. A couple of organizations against the use of pesticides recommends additional products. The National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides suggests products containing geraniol (Bite Stop and MosquitoGuard), citronella (Natrapel), herbal extracts (Beat It Bug Buster) and essential oils (All Terrain). Essential Oils aren’t supposed to be good for pregnancy. And citronella is only moderately effective, but willing to look at the others. Pesticide Action Network North America has additional ideas, including herbal Armor, Buzz Away and Green Ban, as well as Bite Blocker.
More recently though another option has surfaced as well. Isolongifolenone is a natural compound occurring in a South American tree, the Tauroniro. It has been used safely in a number of cosmetics and perfumes, and even paper products which is a good sign. It’s repellent effectiveness has been suggested to be stronger than DEET in some tests. And there is hope that it will be as cheap to manufacture as DEET- soon. it is supposedly easy to manufacture from “inexpensive turpentine oil feedstock”, which doesn’t sound all that great for pregnancy frankly, though perhaps still better than DEET. It’s not clear where this is available yet either- sounds like development is still underway.
A list of mosquito repelling ingredients and links to more information is here. It isn’t particularly encouraging, as there are not complete evaluations of any of them, and there are risks with all of them. A few sources find repellents generally safe for pregnancy. The UK site babycentre suggests caution with DEET but that most pesticides should be safe. A fairly comprehensive study from Canada, looking at a 1994 animal study of pregnant animals ingesting DEET and subsequent human study in Thailand (on women in their 2d and 3d trimesters) with women using DEET for mosquito avoidance showed no adverse affects to mother or baby. The full peer reviewed study by the Canadian Society for Clinical Pharmacology suggests that DEET continues to be the most effective repellent, and suggestions that there are adverse affects to children are not supported by scientific evidence. The Wall Street Journal agrees…several things are in the works, but nothing on the market currently comes close to the effectiveness of DEET. Drat.
Finally there is using clothing treated for repellent- or treating clothing with permethrin. It should not be applied directly to skin (a scary reminder) but apparently is very effective on clothing- and of course long sleeves and pants and netting is always a good thing.
With all of that information, the other important piece to consider is exactly how bad the mosquitoes are in the Arctic. We’re leaning toward DEET.
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