You get the call, and the school nurse asks you to pick up your child. It’s lice. So you run out to the drug store to pick up a box of chemicals that will eliminate this infestation. Now, you don’t have to. There is a proven, safer alternative.
The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center recently released the following announcement:
“We are pleased to announce the publication of our research study on a safe and effective non-toxic treatment for head lice.
A new study conducted by the Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center® at Hackensack University Medical Center, challenges the long-held assumption that pesticide-based lice treatments are the best way to eradicate infestations. The study concludes that dimethicone – a colorless, odorless silicone-based liquid – could be the answer for an effective, safe treatment option in pediatric patients. The study appears to be the first in the U.S. to partner with school nurses in a clinical trial on head lice. Six schools across New York and New Jersey enrolled students in a two-week trial on the dimethicone product LiceMD. The study found that after only one day of treatment, 98.3 percent of children were lice-free. The study was published in BMC Pediatrics June 2015 edition.
Our center’s mission is to identify, control and ultimately prevent toxic exposures in the environment that threaten our children’s health. Lice are benign, so it never made any sense that the conventional treatment of pesticides could be exposing kids to something far worse than lice. That’s why we conducted a clinical trial to find a safer, pesticide-free alternative that is effective at eliminating the lice without the potential to harm our children.
Head lice affects six to 12 million Americans – mostly children – each year. With concerns about increasing pesticide resistance and the potential health effects of pesticides, some parents and pediatricians have been searching for effective, safer options. Potentially neurotoxic pesticides have been linked to lower IQ, diminished attention span, other neurodevelopmental issues and childhood cancers.
“Parents want the safest possible solution for their kids, one that works with the fewest side effects. This is an option that fits this need well,” said the study’s principal investigator, Lawrence Rosen, M.D., medical advisor at The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center® (DIEHC) at HackensackUMC. “Dimethicone should be considered a first-line treatment for head lice,” said Dr. Rosen.”
SafeMinds is grateful to Mrs. Imus for her work in finding safer solutions for our families through environmental research. She remains a SafeMinds honorary board member, and a great supporter.
