sult@midway.uchicago.edu (Jay Steven Sultan) (06/15/91)
From: Jay Steven Sultan <sult@midway.uchicago.edu> Not the typical fare on this discussion list, but I was fortunate to find some Desert Storm-surplus Insect/Arthropod Repellent Lotion. I am stunned by the effectiveness of this product. Its active ingredient is "N,N-Diethyl-m-toluamide (31.58%)". Can anyone tell me more about this product? Why is it so much more effective that commercially available products? Will it be made available?
tedrick@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU (Tom Tedrick) (06/20/91)
From: tedrick@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU (Tom Tedrick) ->Not the typical fare on this discussion list, but I was fortunate to ->find some Desert Storm-surplus Insect/Arthropod Repellent Lotion. I am ->stunned by the effectiveness of this product. Its active ingredient is ->"N,N-Diethyl-m-toluamide (31.58%)". Can anyone tell me more about this ->product? Why is it so much more effective that commercially available ->products? Will it be made available? This is the same ingredient that is contained in products made by Johnson Wax (marketed as "Off") and by Miles Laboratories (marketed under the name "Cutter"). "Off" spray contains "deet" (I believe that's the short name of the ingredient) in a 14.25% concentration. Cutter markets a similar spray. Cutter markets an insect repellent stick (31.35% "deet") and an insect repellent cream (33.25% "deet"). The cream has some other active ingredients which I'm unfamilar with. You can probably purchase the above products in a supermarket. There may be stronger versions available but I haven't seen them. Excessive use on the skin can cause reactions such as peeling. The effect wears off after a few hours. The cream seems to give longest protection. I became convinced the stuff works one night when, after covering the exposed part of my arm, I watched a mosquito flying up and down above the arm, vainly looking for a place to land. The damned thing kept darting in, then retreating at the last instant, evidently when it sensed the "deet".