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Police today set up road blocks around a music festival site to keep thousands of environmental campaigners away from one of Britain’s longest-running festivals.
Up to 15,000 people had begun to gather for the Big Green Gathering in the Mendip hills, Somerset, which was officially due to start on Wednesday. But organisers were forced to cancel it on legal advice yesterday after the police took out an injunction to prevent the festival going ahead.
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6 Natural Mosquito Repellents | Intent.com
Before you head for the hills or plan your next outdoor BBQ, think twice about using DEET to keep the mosquitoes at bay. DEET has been recently linked to brain damage, and since there are many natural options that are as effective or more effective than DEET there’s no need to take the risk.
DEET, or diethyl-meta-toluamide, as its known in chemistry circles, has recently been linked to brain cell damage. Duke University research shows that regular use of chemical repellents like DEET may damage brain cells and interact with medications. The pharmacologist conducting the study observed brain cell death and behavioural changes in animals exposed to DEET after frequent and prolonged use. Another study showed that up to fifteen percent of DEET is absorbed by the skin into the bloodstream.After more than 30 years of research on the effects of chemicals on the brains of rats, Mohamed Abou-Donia, Ph.D, discovered, in two separate studies, that the frequent and prolonged applications of DEET cause neurons to die in regions of the brain that control muscle movement, learning, memory and concentration. Moreover, rats treated
with a comparable human dose of DEET (40 mg/kg body weight) performed far worse than control rats when challenged with physical tasks requiring muscle control, strength and coordination. Such effects are consistent with physical symptoms in humans reported in medical literature, especially by Persian Gulf War veterans, claims Abou-Donia.
Even U.S. Evironmental Protection Agency (EPA) toxicologist Michael Watson noted an instance “where exposure to DEET caused six cases of brain damage in girls aged one through six – and three of them died.”
So what do you do if you wish to avoid the potentially dangerous effects of DEET while still keeping the mosquitoes at bay? While Mother Nature offers dozens of different options, here are some of my top natural mosquito repellents:
Before you head for the hills or plan your next outdoor BBQ, think twice about using DEET to keep the mosquitoes at bay. DEET
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.