DATA you should know; Public Information copied from the web

Science & Technology, Aug. 1, 2005,  Volume 83, Number 31, pg 39
(www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010828075659.htm )

In the 1960s, Cornell University naturalist Thomas Eisner reported that catnip oil repels insects (Science 1964, 146, 1318).  Iowa State University “reported that it took 10 times as much DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) to produce the same repellent effect as nepetalactone.” (* A natural ingredient in Nepeta Cataria)

DEET, a synthetic chemical, is by far the most widely used active ingredient in insect repellents, Coats says, and it has had a "very good" safety record over its 50-year history as a consumer product. However, he says there exists a market for nepetalactone and other "natural" repellents because of isolated reports of adverse reactions to DEET and also DEET's tendency to dissolve rubber materials.

 Science Daily (www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010828075659.htm)

CHICAGO, August 27 — Researchers report that nepetalactone, the essential oil in catnip that gives the plant its characteristic odor, is about ten times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET — the compound used in most commercial insect repellents. While they used so-called yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) — one of several species of mosquitoes found in the United States — Peterson says catnip should work against all types of mosquitoes.

(www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-03/acs-cst031003.php)

Public release date: 25-Mar-2003   American Chemical Society

Cats may adore catnip, but termites hate it. That's what two researchers found in a new study presented today at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, held this week in New Orleans. The oil derived from the catnip plant was found to repel and kill termites in a laboratory test. The researchers hope that eventually a commercial product derived from the oil might provide a less toxic alternative to pesticides used today

(www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/1999-08/ACS-CbTh-230899.php)

Public release date: 23-Aug-1999   American Chemical Society

Today at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, Iowa State University researchers Chris Peterson and Joel Coats, Ph.D., reported that cockroaches are repelled by catnip - specifically, two forms of the chemical called nepetalactone, found in the catnip plant. Their findings could lead to the development of new natural insect repellents that could be sprayed along baseboards to keep roaches from coming out of the walls.

(www.dukehealth.org/news/5500?printFriendly=1)  05/01/2002

Duke University Medical Center pharmacologist is recommending caution when using the insecticide DEET, after his animal studies last year found the chemical causes diffuse brain cell death and behavioral changes in rats after frequent and prolonged use.

With heavy exposure to DEET and other insecticides, humans may experience memory loss, headache, weakness, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, tremors and shortness of breath, said Abou-Donia. His earlier research, examining the brain effects of three chemicals used during the Persian Gulf War, clearly demonstrated that chickens exhibited similar signs that the Gulf War veterans complained of upon returning from service. (Journal of Toxicology and Experimental Health, May, 1996, Vol. 48, p. 35 - 56).

Indeed, Abou-Donia's two most recent studies demonstrate the severe brain and behavioral deficits that rats experience after two months of daily skin applications with DEET and permethrin, another common insecticide, (Experimental Neurology, 2001, volume 172 , p.153- 171);

The most severe brain cell changes and sensorimotor deficits were seen among rats exposed to combinations of DEET, permethrin and the anti-nerve gas agent pyridostigmine bromide, which reduces the body's normal ability to inactivate pesticides. Such findings confirmed Abou-Donia's 1996 and 2001 animal studies demonstrating that harmless doses of these three chemicals proved highly toxic to the brain and nervous system when used in combination. Never combine insecticides with each other or use them with other medications. Even so simple a drug as an antihistamine could interact with DEET to cause toxic side effects.

There is NO DEET in any Waikoloa Bob product.