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DEET is a repellent—not an insecticide. It does not kill the insects and ticks that attempt to bite us. In the case of mosquitoes, DEET disrupts their ability to detect carbon dioxide and other products of human metabolism, which is how they find us. No one knows for sure why ticks are repelled. You need at least a 20% concentration of DEET in a product to work against ticks. What’s the best way to avoid tick bites? Reference: Rockefeller University—M. Leslie, Neuroscience. Hiding from Insects in Plain Scent. Science 2008:319:1471 |
