If your plans take you right into the crosshairs of the sun, this next story is something you'll want to hear: a warning about two popular summertime products some say you shouldn't mix.

kgw.com

Fountain fun in the summertime.

Summertime conjures up a couple of things that go hand in hand with spending time outside; sunscreen and the mosquito repellant DEET.

So, if both of those are a summer staple, you'll want to hear this.  Canadian researchers used human skin samples and found when DEET combined with oxybenzone-- a popular ingredient in sunscreen-- it more easily penetrated the skin.  Applying sunscreen first, then DEET resulted in 10-times higher skin absorption, while putting on DEET first then sunscreen caused 47-times higher absorption.

"With the ingredients in sunscreen that's not an issue because they typically are not toxic, but that's not the case with DEET," Providence family practice Dr. Addison Wilson has heard of this before.  

"DEET does not usually need to be applied as often as sunscreen and applying them separately keeps them from being absorbed systemically more than they should be."

And you should know both the FDA and EPA are looking at how best to label combo-products that already pre-mix DEET with sunscreen.

"I typically discourage people from using the combined products," said Dr. Wilson.

He says one rule of thumb is to put sunscreen only on the skin and DEET only on the clothes you're wearing-- separately.

"Adults have a higher tolerance for levels of DEET that are absorbed.  It's still not a healthy thing to do necessarily, but it's a much bigger problem for children."

Pediatricians recommend only using products that contain 10% or less of DEET on kids, follow the instructions on the label and make sure they wash their hands.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says DEET is not a good idea for babies younger than 2 months.  Also, don't apply it to your child’s hands, or around the mouth and eyes.

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