Just got this in an email and thought that it was worthy of a post.  

“Summers are filled with fun in the sun. Parents slather on sunscreen to protect children from harmful rays. That’s often followed by a careful coating of insect repellent—after all, this is also prime mosquito season.

However, a combination of both products can equal trouble, especially if the bug spray contains a high proportion of Meta-N,N-diethyl toluamide, an ingredient best known by its nickname, DEET.

“This is one combo you don’t want to dance to,” said Dr. Miguel Fernandez of the South Texas Poison Center. “You don’t want to put sunblock with the DEET, because it will allow several times as much DEET to be absorbed.

In fact, studies have shown that applying DEET-based bug sprays with sunblock can trigger three times the absorption of DEET into the bloodstream.

Potential neurotoxic effects include:

• blurry vision
• weakness
• seizures

Although the risk is low, pediatricians recommend you don’t use repellent containing more than 10 percent DEET on children under six years of age. The product label will reflect the proportion of that ingredient.

“It’s very few cases where people run into problems, but when they do, it’s small children that are using the insect repellent frequently,” Dr. Fernandez said.

He added that it is safer to apply insect repellant by first applying sunblock and then waiting 15 minutes.

Another option is to spray the repellent on clothing instead of skin.”