Scientists at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) think they can fight the surge of tick-borne diseases by encouraging people to douse their clothes in a chemical called permethrin. Also coined the ‘hot feet’ chemical.
In a new study, published today (May 24) in the Journal of Medical Entomology, researchers showed that permethrin-treated clothes can seriously mess up a tick’s stride.
Stick some adult ticks on a pair of regular pants tilted at a 45-degree angle, and 100 percent of them will still be clinging on 5 minutes later. Stick adult ticks on a pair of tilted pants treated with permethrin, though, and 42.5 percent will tumble off entirely. Even those that remain get seriously messed up.
The researchers found that only 25 percent of the ticks were moving normally even 24-hours after exposure.
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“All tested tick species and life stages experienced irritation, the ‘hot-foot’ effect, after coming into contact with permethrin-treated clothing,” Lars Eisen, a CDC entomologist who worked on the study, said in a statement.
Permethrin is not a new chemical and in fact, you can already buy clothing that is pretreated in the stuff.
The coating is marketing to those who want to keep insects off and away from them when outdoors. Permethrin can also last up to 70 washes in a washing machine.
You can purchase Permethrin at just about any box store such as Walmart.
