From:	"Paul J. Adam" <shadowrn@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject:	Re: the uac dilemma (minor insect spirit spoilers!)
Date:	Sat, 26 Jul 1997 23:40:31 +0100

In message <33DA05AF.4F67@*********.com>, Kristling the Weird
<kristlingweird@*********.COM> writes
>Okay. Sure. Then how come I don't die using modren bug repellents? The
>active ingrident in them these days IS DEET! Maybe we should step back
>from a sec... If it's pure DEET, then yah. If it's a commercial product,
>no.

DEET is a repellent. It makes the insect think "Yuck!" and fly away: it
doesn't kill them. (Hateful memories of Scottish forest midges during an
Army exercise... each of us was the centre of a seething globe of black
specks, all landing on our repellent-soaked skins and then taking off
again, usually but not always without biting... none of the bastard
things seemed to be dying, though)

Your typical really effective insecticide (rather than a pyrethoid like
domestic flyspray) is an organophosphorous derivative: basically, nerve
gas. Dieldrin, for instance, is almost as toxic to humans as it is to
insects.


--
There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and
praiseworthy...

Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk