I should have posed this question a few weeks ago when
we had the thread going. Anyway, what's the use of
having a bunch of chemists sitting around if you don't
tap the knowledge. I have some small bottles of 100%
DEET. That concentration scares the heck out of me.
What could I cut this stuff with (water, alcohol..)and
in what ratio and still provide effective coverage? I
always take the usual precautions, getting about 20
yards downwind from my gear when applying and washing
and sanitizing my hands before touching flyline.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Jeff,
100% DEET is about as harmless as anything you could find. Not
drinking quality, because it tastes bad.
If you're uncomfortable with using it at 100% strength, you can
dilute it with alcohol.......preferably denatured ethyl alcohol, but
rubbing alcohol works too. The majority of preparations on the
market only contain about 50 - 75% DEET. I did see one in the store
one day that only contained 5% (I didn't buy it).
A lot of people also don't like the 100% because it leaves your skin
feeling kinda oily (and definitely degrades fly lines too).
A very thorough and interesting (at least to me) summary of toxicity
data (in good old-fashioned plain English) can be found at:
<http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/DEETgen.pdf>, put out by the
National Pesticide Information Center.
Sounds pretty innocuous to me.
Allan
--
Allan Fish
Greenwood, IN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
