Insect repellant information

The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension offers a well-organized overview of the advantages and disadvantages of various insect repellents, covering safety warnings especially well.

Australia's Choice magazine gives a succinct rundown on active repellent ingredients.

Cathy Wong, guide to alternative medicine at About.com, lists natural insect repellent ingredients and cites studies that demonstrate their effectiveness.

The United States Department of Agriculture conducts scientific studies of insect repellents. One study on the effects of repellents proves that mosquitoes use their sense of smell to avoid clothing as well as skin sprayed with DEET, SS220 or picaridin. This is useful because it reinforces the idea that spraying clothing is effective, thus minimizing skin contact with insect repellents.

An article by Katherine Hobson in U.S. News and World Report, "Do You Feel Like Bug Bait?" tells why some people are more susceptible than others to insect bites -- and what you can do to deal with it.

The EPA keeps updating its report on DEET.

BeyondPesticides.com includes DEET on its chart of toxic pesticides, with references to sources documenting it as a neurotoxin, as well as its potential links to kidney and liver damage and other diseases.

An article from The New York Times by Henry Fountain called "The Secret of DEET?" gives an overview of a Rockefeller University study on how DEET masks odors that attract mosquitoes to humans.

These manufacturers' websites contain specific product information, including active ingredients and estimated time before reapplication:

3M

Avon

Ben's

Bite Blocker

Burt's Bees

Buzz Off

Cutter

Ex Officio

OFF!

Repel Lemon Eucalyptus

Sawyer