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Buzz off, clothes tell insects

Amateur wildlife photographer Mike Lowell expected to run into swarming mosquitoes and other pests on a recent trip to the Amazon rain forest. He left his insect spray at home and replaced it with a suitcase full of bug-repellent clothes.

Lowell, 29, a police officer from the suburbs of Tampa, Fla., was eager to test the new armor built right into fabric used for shirts, pants, socks and other clothing.

The technology was developed by a small North Carolina company, Buzz Off Insect Shield, which infuses an insect-repellent chemical into clothing sold by upscale outdoor retailers such as L.L. Bean and Orvis, and through Amazon.com.

"I heard about it and I was little skeptical, but I decided to give it a try," Lowell said. "I figured if it didn’t work I would chalk it up to experience."

Before he left for the rain forests of Ecuador, Lowell purchased several safari shirts, socks and jungle pants.

"They worked great," he said in a telephone interview. "I could walk around during the day with my sleeves rolled up. And I was able to lay down in the mud and take pictures without having any ants or weird bugs crawling on me."

By PAUL NOWELL

The Associated Press

Full Story: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002355427_buzzoff02.html

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