DEET is currently sold as an insect repellant but........................... There is long standing scientific evidence that DEET in low concentrations is an excellent mosquito attractant. The University of Florida was issued three patents in 1989 utilizing DEET in low concentrations as an attractant in insect traps. Patent No. 4,880,625; 4,876,087; and 4,959,209 for mosquitoes and house flies. The study (see url below) by Mehr, Rutledge, Buescher, Gupta and Zakaria at the Letterman Army Institute of Research determined the concentrations at which the switch from repellent to attractant occurs and graphed the phenomenon. There is published research from Russian scientists indicating the attractant phenomena of DEET going back to 1965. The public, EPA and governmental organizations have been misled by the DEET manufacturers as they have not made this information public and I firmly believe that the DEET manufacturers are therefore in violation of FIFRA labeling requirements. The public should be warned that they must thoroughly wash all DEET residues off their clothing, children, pets and themselves or continually reapply before the DEET concentration goes low enough to become an attractant. This is particularly true in any area where there are pathogenic organisms that can cause disease or death e.g., encephalitis -EEE, WEE, CEE, & SLE, West Nile Virus, heartworm, Yellow Fever, filariasis, Malaria, and/or Dengue Fever. A child using a 6.75% DEET product applied in the afternoon may become a magnet for mosquitoes in the evening if the DEET is not reapplied in time or properly washed off and the child remains in a mosquito infested area.

 

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/16101982.htm 

 

 

 

... oxychlordane and trans-nonachlor) and a pesticide metabolite (DDE ... Each organochlorine was assessed individually: Individuals with contamination level beneath ...