Dill speaks with MPBN about resistant head lice
Jim Dill, a pest management specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, spoke with the Maine Public Broadcasting Network for a report about how some standard head lice treatments aren’t killing the pests. A recent study found lice in 25 states, including Maine, have developed resistance to the chemicals commonly found in over-the-counter lice treatments, according to the report. Dill said when lice started encountering large quantities of DDT around World War II, many were killed, but those that weren’t developed mutations that made them more efficient chemical processors. While DDT is no longer used, the standard treatment is an insecticide called permethrin, the report states. “The breakdown mechanism is very similar,” Dill said. “So even though you have two very dissimilar chemicals, the chemical that breaks it down within the body of the lice is the same, and it’s a very similar breakdown.”