Deet. (Drugs, Pregnancy and Lactation).

DEET, or N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, is the most widely used insect repellent in the world and is found in various products in concentrations ranging from 10% to 100%. Over many years of use, DEBT generally has been shown to be safe when used appropriately. Most of the safety issues reported were related to ingestion of DEET. In such cases, the drug can be highly neurotoxic and can cause renal failure and other adverse effects.

Many women are concerned about using DEBT during pregnancy, but the available data in humans and animals are reassuring.

DEET is absorbed through the skin; an estimated 9%-56% of a topically applied dose is absorbed by the body within 6 hours, with a peak level reached within 1 hour. DEBT has an elimination half-life of 23 hours; most of it is metabolized by the liver.

Reported adverse effects of DEBT in young children can provide some context for the concern over potential effects on the developing fetus. There have been several case reports of young children who presumably had seizures after repeated applications of DEBT, even with products containing relatively low concentrations of the agent. This has raised suspicion about whether DEBT could affect the developing brain of the fetus. However, a causal relationship has not been established: These were case reports, not controlled studies. DEBT products are used on millions of children every year, and seizures are not uncommon in the general pediatric population. Moreover, a study summarizing all DEBT-related reports to U.S. poison control centers indicated that fewer adverse effects are reported in young children than in older people.

A study published in 1994 reported no clear adverse effects in the offspring of rats and rabbits administered different concentrations of DEBT at various stages of gestation, with one exception. The highest DEBT dose--a huge dose, far higher than the normal human dose--was associated with maternal toxicity (reduced body weight and food consumption) and lower birth weights in the offspring; there was no evidence of fetal toxicity or malformations, regardless of the dose used. No observations of behavior or neurodevelopment were reported.

In another study, which the authors describe as the first to document the safety of DEBT when used regularly by pregnant women throughout the second and third trimester, continuous use was not associated with any ...