Insect Shield FAQ
Insect Shield® Repellent Technology is a remarkable tool in the battle against bugs. Insect Shield apparel provides effective, built-in and odorless protection against mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, chiggers, and midges (no-see-ums) including those that can carry dangerous diseases such as West Nile virus and Lyme disease. Insect Shield Repellent Apparel is EPA-registered and has been tested and proven to last through 70 launderings - the expected lifetime of a garment.
As with any breakthrough technology, you are going to have questions. So, we’ve got some answers…
What is Insect Shield?
Insect Shield® products provide
long-lasting, effective and convenient personal insect protection. The
durable protection provided by Insect Shield apparel and gear is the result of
years of research and testing. In July 2003, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency granted registration of Insect Shield Insect Repellent
Apparel—the first-ever, EPA-registered insect-repellent clothing. The EPA
has granted Insect Shield extended durability claims for its apparel
registration, through 70 washings. Insect Shield apparel and gear products
combine the patent-pending Insect Shield process with a proprietary formulation
of the insect repellent permethrin—resulting in effective, odorless insect
protection that lasts the expected lifetime of a garment.
Is Insect Shield EPA-registered?
Following many years of extensive
product testing, Insect Shield for apparel and gear has been successfully
registered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
What does EPA registration mean?
The EPA registration process is
designed to evaluate a proposed product to ensure it will not have adverse
effects on people or the environment. Insect Shield products have been
rigorously evaluated on multiple levels—the chemistry, the application process
and the final consumer product. The end result? Insect Shield received the
first-ever EPA registrations for insect-repellent clothing and gear.
Are warning labels required on Insect Shield products?
No. During the
registration process, the EPA issues a consumer labeling rating for each
product. Insect Shield has been rated a category IV product by the EPA—which is
the most favorable rating possible. No warning labels are required on
category IV products.
Can Insect Shield
repellent apparel and gear be worn by children, infants and pregnant women?
Yes. Use of Insect
Shield products by children of all ages, and pregnant women, is consistent with
the EPA registrations of both Insect Shield apparel and gear.
Which insects does
Insect Shield repel?
Insect Shield® Repellent Apparel has
been proven and registered to repel mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, chiggers,
and midges (no-see-ums). The EPA requires extensive effectiveness data to prove
a product's ability to repel insects. Many species and varieties of these insects
have been tested, including many that can carry dangerous diseases.
How much protection
is provided by Insect Shield repellent apparel?
A small item of Insect Shield
clothing provides less repellency than a larger one. You may need to adjust the
amount of Insect Shield apparel you wear, depending on the number of biting
insects that are present. Topical repellent can be used for exposed skin, and is especially
recommended for heavily infested locations.
Does the product have an odor?
No. Insect Shield protection is
invisible, odorless and colorless, and does not change the feel of the garment.
What are the benefits
of Insect Shield vs. other forms of insect protection?
Insect Shield apparel puts insect
repellency near your skin, instead of on it, and the protection is odorless and
invisible. Also, the repellency is long lasting, so no re-application is
needed, which is convenient, and can help alleviate concerns about overuse and
misuse of repellent.
Is Insect Shield
Responsible Insect Protection?
The patent-pending Insect Shield process is designed to prevent loss of active
ingredient outside the system, and once applied, Insect Shield repellency is so
tightly bound to fabric fibers that garments retain effective repellency
through 70 launderings. Compare this to insect-control methods that require
fogging or spraying, and traditional topical repellents that last just a matter
of hours and readily wash off in water.
How do you care for Insect Shield
apparel?
Normal home laundering is
recommended. Insect Shield repellent apparel can be bleached, starched,
pressed, etc., without effect on the repellent quality; however, it should not
be dry-cleaned.
Why can't the
products be dry-cleaned?
Dry cleaning removes some of the
active ingredient—which reduces the insect repellent quality of the apparel.
Who recommends
permethrin-treated apparel?
The following international agencies
recommend insect-repellent apparel:
♦ The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), www.cdc.gov/travel
♦ The
World Health Organization (WHO), www.who.int
♦ The
American Academy of Family Physicians, http://www.familydoctor.org
♦ The
Public Health Agency of Canada, http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/www.phac-aspc.gc.ca
Insect Shield represents a promising new approach to the longstanding problem of protection against both insects and the diseases they can carry. All of the above agencies actively encourage at-risk individuals to use permethrin-treated clothing as a protective measure against insect-borne diseases.
Why does the Insect Shield label say
“dispose of in trash after use?”
This indicates that Insect Shield
products can be simply deposited in the trash and require no special disposal
process. In the case of Insect Shield-treated apparel, the “after use” can last
for years in the used clothing market since many people donate their clothing.
Eventually, the repellency becomes exhausted through wearing and laundering.
Do Insect Shield
products require special storage?
No. And the repellency has a long
shelf life. Insect Shield-treated garments stored for ten years have shown no
loss of repellent effectiveness.
What is permethrin?
Permethrin has been
successfully used in the United States as an EPA-registered product since 1977,
with an excellent safety record. Permethrin is used in lice shampoos for
children, flea dips for dogs, and various other products, some of which are
regulated by the FDA.
The Insect Shield process uses a proprietary formulation of permethrin in a patent-pending system, and the resulting repellency is so tightly bound to the fabric fibers of each garment that it lasts through 70 launderings.
The patent-pending process designed by our researchers specifically for creating Insect Shield products and the proprietary formulation that is used are quite different from permethrin-based technologies employed in other industries.