Something new under the sun

I assume many of you are like me, and are proud of yourselves as conscientious parents every time you remember to slather your family with sunscreen. Skin cancer, premature aging, sunburn....threats averted! We are making our kids healthier, right?

Well, if it was that easy, I wouldn't be paranoid! The mad scientists have been at it again, and this time they were using nanotechnology. More than just a fun word to say, it is the science of creating new products by altering atoms and molecules. Sounds more like NASA than sunscreen? If only the mad scientists thought like we do!

Get a load of this article about nanosunscreen altering the brain cells of the mice unfortunate enough to have this scary but common sunblock tested on them. Wait, the study was on mice brain cell culture. So, the headlines saying sunscreen causes brain damage may be premature, but just the thought of it being possible is making me reach for the tinfoil hat.

DEET - repellant or repugnant?

I walked out to my car yesterday, and began to think the zealots warning of the coming apocalypse might be onto something. Insects were swarming around my car, my face, and my kids. The end of times? No, the end of spring.

Summer is in full force here at the edge of the Everglades. Our amazing fauna around our canal front house is increasing exponentially. With summer comes thick gnat storms like the one I was surrounded by yesterday, swarms of dragonflies, lovely monarch butterflies, and of course.....mosquitoes.

My mind started racing. What sort of pestilence control options did we have? Almost all mosquito repellants and bug sprays are full of unpronounceable compounds, with skull and crossbones warnings on the label. "Keep out of reach of children!" But, my children are within reach of these bugs! Visions of the movie Naked Lunch ran through my head. I didn't want my kids inhaling and absorbing these mysterious chemicals and getting a Kafkaesque high, or worse.

But here lies a major dilemma of a true paranoiac. What about the diseases these bugs can carry, and possibly inject into my children? A friend of mine had a mysterious ailment that landed her in the hospital a few years ago. Even after a barrage of tests including a spinal tap, she had no diagnosis for her unusual symptoms. Tinfoil hat firmly on my head, I insisted it was West Nile Virus, which they did not screen her for. Anorexia, headache, fever, fatigue? I knew the symptoms...The news had the first detected case a few weeks later, but I knew better.

So, what is worse? Chemical insect repellants or West Nile Virus? Are there natural repellants that work? I have heard of cinnamon and eucalyptus based ones that have been tested against DEET and work, but I don't know if they are marketed, or what would be comparable. Citronella does not cut it in these studies.

Anyone know where to find these? Do we have to stay inside all summer?