10 % permethrin

[weaver2469]

I was just at ****'s yesterday. They had both the aerosol and the pump of Sawyer's. It was in the camping section.

[BillyBob58]

just watch overdoing it on soaking certain things that probably don't need it. shirts, pants, etc... this stuff is pretty toxic to frogs and fish. if you're cleaning your shirt in a creek or wading at all.

http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles...thrin-ext.html
reading

highlights:

Effects on Aquatic Organisms
Permethrin is toxic to fish and should be kept out of all bodies of water (1). It was highly toxic to fish in laboratory tests, but showed low toxicity in field tests (23). Aquatic ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to the impact of permethrin. A fragile balance exists between the quality and quantity of insects and other invertebrates that serve as fish food (2).
The LC50 for rainbow trout is 12.5 micrograms per liter (ug/l) for 24 hours, and 5.4 ug/l for 48 hours (7). The LC50 for 48 hours in bluegill sunfish and salmon is 1.8 ug/l (2). As a group, synthetic pyrethroids were toxic to all estuarine species tested. They had a 96-hour LC50 of less than or equal to 7.8 ug/l (15).

Effects on Other Animals (Nontarget species)
Permethrin is extremely toxic to bees. Severe losses may be expected if bees are present at treatment time, or within a day thereafter (7, 12). Permethrin is also toxic to wildlife (9). It should not be applied, or allowed to drift, to crops or weeds in which active foraging takes place (4).

I thought the whole idea of it's safety was that once dry, it is not water soluble. Therefore it is washable and does not re-hyrate with sweat or getting wet.

I think there are no worries about that. I don't know what percentage 5-12 MCG per liter would come out to. But, 1st starting with a .5% concentration. That is supposedly tightly bound to clothing so that it will take 5 or 6 machine washings to get it out of there. ( mainly broken down by air exposure?) Then, picture washing or wading in a stream, where whatever concentration is left in the clothes, and to whatever degree some cold water without detergent can wash it out of the clothes, the Permethrin washed out of the clothes(if any) is now diluted into thousands or millions of gallons of water.

I would be surprised if that could ever reach a toxic level for the frogs or fish. "highly toxic to fish in laboratory tests, but showed low toxicity in field tests". But, a little caution doesn't hurt.

[Wags]

you are likely right, but i'd just think twice before soaking everything that i own

[Danalex]

The one difference is I dried the first batch in the guest bathroom with open window, but the weather was humid. This time, I dried the second batch in the garage, with both garage doors open and no humidity.

Info I got from a video produced by ... I can't remember exactly but someone in the know ... showed that it was best to lay the farbic out flat on black plastic in the hot sun to dry.

Plus, hanging was no good as the bottom of the fabric was wetter longer and most of the permethrin flowed down and dripped off before drying.

[mtbikernate]

That last line might have been a joke, but incase it is not;


DO NOT LET YOUR CAT NEAR PERMETHRIN!!!!!

It will kill the cat.

My wife (a veterinarian) recently had to put down a cat because the owners BATHED IT in this stuff to kill fleas.

The cat developed constant tremors and periodically went into full-blown seizures. She had drugs that could relieve the tremors for an hour or so, but they didn't do well. She went so far as to give the cat lipid therapy (an experimental treatment in cats) because permethrin is fat soluble, and even then the lipid therapy was not enough to remove the toxins from the cat.

The people could not believe that they killed their cat, but the label specifically mentions not to put it on animals.

[Knotty]

My wife (a veterinarian) recently had to put down a cat because the owners BATHED IT in this stuff to kill fleas.

The cat developed constant tremors and periodically went into full-blown seizures. She had drugs that could relieve the tremors for an hour or so, but they didn't do well. She went so far as to give the cat lipid therapy (an experimental treatment in cats) because permethrin is fat soluble, and even then the lipid therapy was not enough to remove the toxins from the cat.

The people could not believe that they killed their cat, but the label specifically mentions not to put it on animals.

The reason Tractor Supply and other sources sell permethrin is for application to livestock and horses. Mammals generally don't have a problem with it but for some reason cats do.

[oldgringo]

Info I got from a video produced by ... I can't remember exactly but someone in the know ... showed that it was best to lay the farbic out flat on black plastic in the hot sun to dry.

Plus, hanging was no good as the bottom of the fabric was wetter longer and most of the permethrin flowed down and dripped off before drying.

I saw that vid, and thought at the time that was dubious, an unsubstantiated theory, at best.

That said, the Sawyer's soak method does not dunk/saturate the items to be treated. Rather, the items are rolled up tightly, placed in a plastic bag with a small amount of product, and dampened by capillary action. There is no drippage.

The only circumstance that would seem to require dunking would be when treating an item that is non-absorbent, such as bug netting.

[cinnamon]

just picked up a bottle of Sawyer's (the pump) and have a question about applying it to a gathered end hammock. read and understood the directions, and obviously you need to hang the hammock up before treatment but should it be hung up as typical or should you remove the suspension and hang it up like a sheet? the reason i ask is that well, with a gathered end hammock the end is gathered, should that just be 'soaked' and called good or do i need to spread it out????

[JaxHiker]

My theory is that I'm just trying to keep the skeeters from biting me through the hammock so I only worry about getting good coverage on the underside. Anywhere my body might press against the material gets treated. So basically I spray everything from about a foot in on either end.

[Cannibal]

...but should it be hung up as typical or should you remove the suspension and hang it up like a sheet? the reason i ask is that well, with a gathered end hammock the end is gathered, should that just be 'soaked' and called good or do i need to spread it out????

As long as your hammock body and suspension are treated, it doesn't matter. They (bugs) still have to crawl on one of those surfaces and all it takes is a second of contact; dead bugs crawling.