I don't know if I'm over-reacting or not. Saturday evening we visited with my parents who are hosting my teenage niece and nephew for a two week visit. My niece was playing outside with DS and, without my or DH's knowledge, sprayed him down with DEET bug spray after he complained to her about getting bitten by bugs. We were not aware of anything until the next morning when my husband was giving him a bath and smelled it on him. At that point, DH thoroughly bathed DS, but ever since, DS has been very cranky, irritable and he feels mildly feverish to me. I called the ped, who confirmed what I already knew - that DEET is a known neurotoxin and should never be used on children. She advised a balanced diet with lots of anti-oxidant heavy fruits and veggies, and lots of water. When I asked whether the damage could be permanent, she said she didn't think so, but didn't sound sure. I then called our chiro and I'm taking DS in a few minutes to do a detoxifying foot bath and to pick up some liver detox supplements. Is there anything else I can do/watch for/etc? I'm so upset that this happened and that it's been nearly 48 hours since his exposure that we are able to start doing something about it (just were able to get confirmation from niece that she did, in fact, spray him).
Do your parents still have the can of spray that was used on your son? You need to get all the information you can from the label and proceed from there. My first call after getting the label info, would be poison control.
Do you know what percent of concentration it was? Lower is better of course. Something like a 45% would concern me even with that one application. Ten wouldn't at all. That said, drowsiness, headaches, seizures, rashes, vomitting and the like are the signs of serious DEET poisoning I found when I did some looking. It doesn't sound as if he's really showing any of those serious signs? So if he is poisoned at all it would be mild. It looks like most poisoning are ingesting or repeated exposures (months).
I would think the teen neice used it responsibly. And I have friends and family (including pediatricians) who do use low concentrations of DEET on their kids to avoid West Nile and the like. So while I'd be unhappy too especially since you didn't know and so didn't wash it off for some time, I don't think this is the horrible thing you're fearing.
When I'm concerned about something like this I call poison control. They will definitively tell you if your're over-reacting (or under or whatever)! They'll tell you what to watch for and what to do to mitigate effects.
I hope your DS is doing okay? I only use natural stuff on DS but my DH sent me a link to use products w DEET. Is it really that poisonous? Luckily, I didn't listen to him.
Thank you for the replies. He is acting more like his usual self today. We've been focusing on good nutrition - particularly pushing foods heavy in antioxidants, and fluids. After our foot bath at the chiro, we also started giving a homeopathic called ExChem that the chiro recommended. After researching DEET more thoroughly, I learned that it does not repel bugs itself but, rather, is absorbed into the body to change body chemistry and make the individual less "appealing" to biting bugs. Doesn't sound like something anyone should be exposed to, to me. Now to be extra vigilant that this never happens again.
I joined up to reply to this thread after my son was taken to hospital & nearly died from respiratory failure after being sprayed with 30% DEET by his sister. Make no mistake DEET is a deadly neurotoxin and not only will I not have it in the house, I've urged all my friends to throw it out too. The reality is there are plenty of natural sprays like incognito anti-mosquito or Alfresco that repel insects as well as any chemical but without the potentially deadly side effects! I'm glad our sons are ok and hope this is a lesson that other mums don't have to learn like we did. Jane
Originally Posted by Picturesque
Thank you for the replies. He is acting more like his usual self today. We've been focusing on good nutrition - particularly pushing foods heavy in antioxidants, and fluids. After our foot bath at the chiro, we also started giving a homeopathic called ExChem that the chiro recommended. After researching DEET more thoroughly, I learned that it does not repel bugs itself but, rather, is absorbed into the body to change body chemistry and make the individual less "appealing" to biting bugs. Doesn't sound like something anyone should be exposed to, to me. Now to be extra vigilant that this never happens again.
I joined up to reply to this thread after my son was taken to hospital & nearly died from respiratory failure after being sprayed with 30% DEET by his sister. Make no mistake DEET is a deadly neurotoxin and not only will I not have it in the house, I've urged all my friends to throw it out too. The reality is there are plenty of natural sprays like incognito anti-mosquito or Alfresco that repel insects as well as any chemical but without the potentially deadly side effects! I'm glad our sons are ok and hope this is a lesson that other mums don't have to learn like we did. Jane
Wow, Jane, how horrible! It's really scary how common this poison is and how many people spray it on their children (and others'!) without hesitation. So glad your LO recovered!
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