Mosquito repellent liquid is a pesticide; experts warn it should not be used on infants and young children
Summer is here, the weather is getting hotter, and mosquitoes are starting to multiply. In shopping malls, everything from traditional burning mosquito coils to mosquito repellent liquids for repelling and killing mosquitoes has been placed in prominent spots on the shelves. Experts warn that when preventing mosquito bites in summer, people should not blindly rely on chemical products, and families with small babies in particular should use them with caution.
In summer, the weather is humid and warm, and mosquitoes grow and reproduce rapidly. This is also the time when diseases spread by mosquito bites become prevalent, and children are the first to bear the harm caused by mosquito bites. When an adult is bitten, it may just cause a red bump that generally disappears after a few hours. But a child's immune system has not yet been fully established, so recovery is slower, and it is more likely to trigger inflammation or other diseases. In addition, summer is also the peak season for epidemic encephalitis B, which is spread by mosquitoes and is more common in children under 10 years old, manifesting as persistent high fever, headache, vomiting and so on.
At the counters for summer supplies in department stores, whether mosquito coils or insecticides, the outer packaging is printed with “fragrance-free” or marked as suitable for families with children. A reporter compared two products of the same brand, “floral water” and “mosquito repellent floral water”, and found that the “floral water” only bore the words “cosmetics hygiene approval number”, while the “mosquito repellent floral water”, below its “production license number” and “cosmetics hygiene approval number”, additionally bore a “pesticide registration certificate number” and a “pesticide production approval document number”.
It is understood that commonly used mosquito repellent liquid is also a pesticide-type product. Whether it is mosquito coils that are burned or mosquito repellent water that is applied, as long as it is a product that repels mosquitoes by chemical means, it belongs to pesticides. At present, chemical mosquito repellent products on the market generally work in two ways. One is mainly to “kill”, causing death by stimulating the mosquito's nerves; traditional mosquito coils, electric mosquito coils, aerosol insecticides and the like all belong to this category. The other is mainly to “repel”, making mosquitoes avoid the product by creating an odor they dislike; mosquito repellent liquids such as “Wen Buding” belong to this category.
A doctor at a hospital in Hechi City said that for children, especially infants, the skin's immune system has not yet been fully established, and long-term use of mosquito repellent water that comes into contact with the skin is not good for children. At the same time, the mucosal tissue of an infant's respiratory system is not yet fully developed, so mosquito repellent liquids and water with irritating odors are best used sparingly. (Seeking Medical Advice) (Responsible Editor: Dong Yanxue)