Does DEET cause seizures in children?
This recurring rumor is without scientific foundation. Extensive follow-up of a few reported cases (out of the hundreds of millions of uses of DEET over the same seven-year period) found pre-existing neurological conditions and other unusual circumstances, typically including product misuse. None of these episodes could definitively be attributed to DEET. There was no correlation between the person’s age or the amount of DEET in the product. See article: DEET-based insect repellents. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical and science experts have reviewed these findings. Most experts recognize that neurological episodes occur naturally in humans at a rate higher than the incidence reflected in these reports.
