Can I use dust soap from lice and nits

Dustov soap - really one of the most effective means of lice. This is evidenced by the feedback of those who are not afraid to use it, and the real scientific research on the effectiveness of its main component (DDT). However, the use of such soap is fraught with serious danger that the main component of the soap is for a person, and in particular for a child.

Even in the second half of the last century, before the appearance of numerous harmless insecticides and products based on them, the dust lice soap was almost the only truly reliable alternative to the “old-fashioned” folk recipes based on kerosene and vinegar. Indeed, a piece of such a soap was worth a penny, and it allowed lice to be taken out once, even in rather complicated and neglected cases.

Feedback

“For me, my mother always poisoned lice with dust, and I brought them to my children.It is inexpensive and absolutely reliable: the head is washed, hides under a bag, washed off in half an hour and washed with shampoo. The smell, of course, is terrible, but then no nit and no lice survive after that. ”

Alena, Makhachkala

Nevertheless, today Dustov soap is considered the property of history: it is used in extremely rare cases by residents of especially remote areas. The reason for this is in its side effects, which have caused the worldwide ban of this tool.

What are the properties of dust soap?

 

Dustov soap: composition, action, effectiveness of lice

Dustov soap is, in fact, a simple laundry soap to which DDT is added to a certain concentration, one of the most famous insecticides. It is DDT in common is called dust, and because of this the soap itself got its name.

Important!
Do not confuse dust and tar soap. The first has no cosmetic properties and is intended only for the destruction of parasites. The second, on the contrary, improves the condition of the scalp and hair, but acts on lice rather weakly.

With the help of DDT over the course of several decades, various insects have been very successfully exterminated - parasites and pests.At one time, its use even began to resemble mania: DDT was poured wherever possible, even when there was no obvious need for it.

It is interesting

According to specialists, DDT has saved at least 10 million people in its application history. Only in India with its help was it possible to eradicate the malaria epidemic (dusty water bodies, natural reservoirs of breeding malaria mosquitoes) were treated: then 5 million people in villages and rural areas were threatened. Similar situations have occurred in Greece and Italy. In addition, it was due to DDT that the Green Revolution became a reality - before its use, the pests destroyed a much larger part of the crop than after the start of treatment with dust of fields and orchards.

In the 60s of the last century, physicians discovered that the accumulation of DDT in the body causes serious intoxication, sometimes fatal. Even before this, environmentalists sounded the alarm because of the mass death of birds feeding on the dusty fields. Finally, at the end of the 60s, the use of DDT as part of human pest control products was banned in many countries of the world, and dust from lice, in fact, was outlawed.

However, Dustov soap against lice is very effective.DDT is an insecticide of contact action that can penetrate the parasite through the chitinous integument of its body. This means that if you thoroughly lather the entire head or other parasitic hairy parts of the body - with a soap soap - so that it certainly falls on each insect - all the parasites can be destroyed in one treatment.

At the same time all the nits will die. It should be noted that even many modern means of lice do not possess such high efficiency.

On a note

The larva of an ordinary meat fly, several times larger than a louse in size and mass, is killed by falling on the surface of its body one millionth part of a milligram of dust.

Concentration of dust in soap is enough to not worry about the amount applied to the head means: if all the hair will be under the foam, this will be quite enough.

Feedback

“As a family, we tried several lice products. I washed my head with Pedilin, my daughter was treated with Nittifor, my husband, like a stern man, was washing with dust soap. Result: Dustov soap out of competition. I think the nits died before the package was put on the head.The stench is, of course, unbearable, the husband has been sick all night, but the tool works flawlessly. Pedilin is also good, but I had to comb the nits separately. ”

Anna, Kirov

 

Danger and side effects when using Dustov soap

It is believed that a dose of more than 300 mg of DDT per kilogram of body weight when taken orally is fatal for humans. Roughly speaking, about 20 grams of DDT should be swallowed for poisoning at a time - that is quite a lot.

However, the dust has a very unpleasant quality - it constantly accumulates in the tissues and is practically not removed from the body. This means that even if the dose is not received immediately, but in parts, the result will be the same.

A dose of 16 mg / kg already leads to serious poisoning, sometimes with instant vomiting. Smaller amounts usually cause mild intoxication.

In this case, DDT, falling on the skin, does not cause much harm. However, when applying dust against head lice, a substance can penetrate into the eyes, nose, scratches at the site of bites on the head during treatment, which will still lead to the penetration of the insecticide into the human body.

Feedback

“Our son brought lice from the children's camp. It's okay, of course, but unpleasant.The grandmother, in the old manner, washed his head with dust soap, and in the morning he had to take the topic to the hospital - he was very sick and vomited, his head was sprinkled. The doctor looked at us as at the insane, says that dust against lice and nits is the same as throwing gas over your head and burning it. The Subject was on a drip for three days, then he left the house for a week, and then we just shaved him and forgot about the lice. ”

Lydia, Pskov

It is believed that DDT, accumulating in the body, can lead to various mutagenic disorders, the occurrence of malignant tumors, weakened immunity, the development of diseases of the nervous system and brain, poisoning and fetal death in pregnant women. There is no direct evidence of such assumptions due to the cessation of the use of dust, but there are preconditions to believe that these fears are not unfounded.

Symptoms of dust poisoning are:

• nausea and vomiting
• muscle weakness
• headaches
• shortness of breath, and asthmatics - exacerbation of the disease
• allergic reaction with skin rashes.

If after applying the dust soap, at least a few of these symptoms appear, the patient must be shown to the doctor.To do the gastric lavage and drink activated carbon in these cases is useless.

There are also contraindications of another property - the soap itself dries the skin very strongly and can lead to irritations. Therefore, it is better not to use Dustov soap for people with dry skin.

 

If the decision is made: how to apply the dust soap

But if the dust soap against lice is still decided to use (it is not recommended), it should be used in accordance with the following rules:

• the handler must wear a respirator, goggles and rubber gloves, wet the soap and lather the patient’s head
• the patient must sit with his eyes and mouth closed all the time
• after applying soap on the head, put on a rubber cap or a bag that is pulled over the hairline with a rubber band
• the foam is aged on the head for half an hour (at the very first sensations of tingling, burning, itching, it is necessary to wash it off) and the head is washed thoroughly with simple shampoo several times
• still wet hair combed with a frequent comb (it is good to use special pediculicidal combs for this) to remove dead lice and nits.

It is worth remembering about the very unpleasant smell of dust: after lice removal its “aroma” can persist for quite a long time.

Dustov soap should not be used frequently or regularly. Dust destroys lice and nits already during the first treatment, but if suddenly after this parasites on the head still remain, it is better to remove them by any other means.

 

Tar soap, aerosols and shampoos: a review of alternative means

If possible, it is better to replace the dust soap with safer and no less reliable lice products. For example, the following options are good for this:

• Pedilin shampoo and Para-Plus aerosol - these products kill both lice and nits, but they are not toxic to humans.
• Sprays from Paranit lice and Nuda - they are not destroy nits, but perfectly safe and recommended for use in children.
• Pediculicidal combs - they will have to comb their head for several days in a row, but they are deprived of any contraindications and side effects.

And finally, there is always the opportunity to simply shave off hair infected with lice. This is the most effective, simple, safe and affordable way to fight. If the infection occurred in the summer, shaving the hair will also help restore the healthy state of the scalp more quickly.

 

Interesting video about the ways and symptoms of lice infection

 

What causes lice and how to deal with them correctly