NPR has this piece by Vicki Valentine on their website.
Head lice and humans go way back; the parasites have been found
with their little claws locked around prehistoric mummy hair. And our
eons-long relationship has given us plenty of time to build up myths
about lice, too. Here, Harvard lice expert Richard Pollack dispels some
of the most persistent folklore:
Dirty Kids Spread Lice:
Head lice have no preference for dirty hair or clean hair. "If you wash
your hair three times a day or more, the lice on your head will just be
clean lice," Pollack says.
Pets Spread Lice: Human head-lice infestations don’t come from pets — our lice only like our blood.
Brushes Spread Lice:
Combs, brushes, headphones, hats and helmets have very little role in
spreading lice. It’s all the tumbling, playing and hugging that does
it. In the vast majority of cases, lice are spread by direct
head-to-head contact.
Clean House to Get Rid of Lice:
If your house is dusty or dirty, go ahead and clean, says Pollack. But
that won’t prevent or cure a lice infestation. The parasites can’t
survive for more than a day without a meal of human blood, and they
generally aren’t going to let go of your hair to hang out on your
couch. Changing bed linens or vacuuming a car seat can only help, but
chances of a louse being on a bed or a car seat are incredibly small.
Shave Heads:
"It’s like using a cannon to kill a housefly," Pollack says. Completely
shaving a head will get rid of lice eggs, but Pollack says that’s a
needless tactic when there are so many other effective and less drastic
ways to solve the problem.
Head Lice Can Kill:
Nope, that would be body lice. Those parasites do thrive in dirty
environments and are perhaps most infamous for spreading deadly typhus
in the 19th century. Head lice just make you itch.
Coat Your Head in Vaseline:
Some people swear by the Vaseline or olive-oil treatments — the idea
is to suffocate the lice. But lice are extremely hard to suffocate, and
to date, no studies have evaluated the efficacy of either substance.
"Why not chose something that’s been tested and shown to work?" Pollack
says.
Insecticide Shampoos Can Be Toxic:
"The only ones who should fear the proper use of these products are
lice," says Pollack. Look for FDA-registered over-the-counter
treatments containing pyrethrin, which is a natural chrysanthemum
abstract, or permethrin, which is the synthetic form. If your lice
appear to be resistant to those, the next step is a prescription
shampoo containing either malathion or lindane. "When used properly,
they are valuable and low-risk pesticides," Pollack says.
Manual Removal Is Safest:
If you have short, straight hair, a special comb on its own could take
care of an infestation. "If my daughter, who has thick, shoulder-length
hair, had head lice, and I tried to use any of these devices on her,
the neighbors would call the cops, it would cause so much discomfort
and pain."
Editor’s Note: Pollack has served as a paid scientific advisor in the past to companies that manufacture head lice shampoos.
You can safely and effectively kill lice with salt water or a sauna – learn how to kill lice without killing yourself or the earth……
The head louse (Pediculus humanus capitas) (DeGeer), the body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) (Linnaeus) and the crab louse (Pthirus pubis) (Linnaeus) all occur on humans. All three cause considerable skin irritation as they feed on human blood or crawl on the body.
Human lice can establish and maintain themselves only on humans. A louse cannot hop or jump. They can, however, crawl fast. They are usually transmitted only through close personal contact. They are less frequently transmitted through the sharing of personal articles or toilet seats. For head lice, this includes combs, brushes and other grooming aids, hats, headbands, helmets, caps, headrests, wigs, curlers or other headgear, especially when these items are stored in shared lockers. They spread or infest by crawling, they live by biting and sucking blood from the scalp and can survive for up to 48 hours off a human head, and the nits on a hair shaft can survive from 4 – 10 days – so vacuum thoroughly and/or spray/clean with diluted Safe Solutions, Inc. Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint.
Important Note: Pediculicide POISONS do not remove nits and are dangerous. Among the reactions to poison shampoo or lice “treatments” are seizures, mental retardation, many different allergies and respiratory problems, strange tingling, burning, itching, attention deficit disorders, brain tumors, leukemia, cancer and death.
I have used a sauna and/or salt water to safely and effectiely kill lice (but the nits remain).
I have also used ½ oz. of Safe Solutions, Inc. Lice R Gone® Enzyme Shampoo and/or their Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint per shampoo-type application to safely remove both lice and nits in a few minutes. These non-poisonous enzyme shampoos make the hair so slick lice and nits can’t stick and lice can not live off the body for very long.
If you are still having lice problems, read the latest chapter http://www.thebestcontrol2.com.
What about all-natural products that really work? LiceKiller, for instance. It kills lice in just 10 seconds and it smells good too. No chemicals or pesticides are used and it’s completely safe for humans but deadly for lice. http://www.LiceKiller.com has products that protect from reinfestation too. Another aspect of this problem is that people are embarrassed to talk about it. Well, our non-profit website http://www.headlicehotline.org is run by caring volunteers who have already been through the head lice problem and will gladly take your phone call. They are trained to help over the phone, and it’s a free service. Call. You’ll be glad you did.
Also, Malathion (or Maldison as it is know in NZ and Australia) is a highly toxic derivative of nerve gas which works by disrupting the chemical reactions in the lice’s (and our) nervous system. Extremely toxic orally, Malathion is a possible carcinogen, mutagen (Mutates DNA) and endocrine disruptor. In its raw state, malathion is readily absorbed into the skin.
Permethrin also reveal serious safety concerns and are possible carcinogens. German studies link exposure to Permethrin and also Phenothrin with leukaemia, lymphoid cancer and multiple chemical sensitivity.
These pesticides are commonly thought to be made from chrysanthemum flowers, which they are not! They are NOT natural. They are SYNTHETIC compounds which are now PROVEN to be dangerous!
Very concerning is another product in the works that sound neuro toxic not only to lice but to humans. http://www.parapro.com/news_05212007.aspx
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Richard J. Pollack, Ph.D., Instructor, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. Member of technology advisory board of Carmel, IN-based ParaPRO LLC, a specialty pharmaceutical company developing a compound for the treatment of head lice. (ParaPRO press release, 5/21/2007, http://www.parapro.com/news_05212007.aspx, accessed 9/10/2007.) Research in Pediculosis (head lice) funded by MEDICIS, The Dermatology Company®. “Dr. Pollack is a consultant to Trimas Laboratories and Warner-Lambert Company, and has an ongoing relationship (consulting, advisory board membership, research grant, or speaker’s program) with Warner-Lambert Company.” (Contemporary Pediatrics (supplement) 2000;17:1-12)
Is it safe to use diatomaceous earth power on the hair/scalp of humans? If it works to kill lice in the house, why can’t it be used on humans….we use it on pets.
Richard Pollack has given incorrect information. Lindane is extremelty toxic, especially to children. There have been adverse effects reported even when used as directed.
I don’t know if Mr. Pollack is a health proffesional, a drug rep or what, but he needs to educate himself better before giving out dangerous, misinformed advice.
Ask him why so many countries have banned it, as did the state of California, and why there are other states in the US getting legislation to ban the pharmaceutical use.
Also the EPA has banned lindane due to its toxicity.