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Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests

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Re: Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests

#11

Post by jMyles »

aug_aug wrote: post #9

Possibly related tidbit - I used to roll my own cigarettes when working in the field as a geologist, left a pack of papers under the seat of my truck which had no carpeting, spilled 100% DEET on the floor, DEET absorbed into pack of papers. Months later found those same papers (what luck!) and rolled a cigarette without thinking about it, minutes later I was asking my now wife if she "could hear the helicopter sounds…

That's an interesting story. How long did the effect last? Did you ever report it to anyone in any "official" capacity? (ie, seek medical attention, report it to the manufacturer, etc)

Re: Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests

#12

Post by TrinaryWorksToo »

aug_aug wrote: post #9

Possibly related tidbit - I used to roll my own cigarettes when working in the field as a geologist, left a pack of papers under the seat of my truck which had no carpeting, spilled 100% DEET on the floor, DEET absorbed into pack of papers. Months later found those same papers (what luck!) and rolled a cigarette without thinking about it, minutes later I was asking my now wife if she "could hear the helicopter sounds…

DEET is not a pesticide. Are you thinking of DDT?

Re: Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests

#13

Post by rolph »

aug_aug wrote: post #9

Possibly related tidbit - I used to roll my own cigarettes when working in the field as a geologist, left a pack of papers under the seat of my truck which had no carpeting, spilled 100% DEET on the floor, DEET absorbed into pack of papers. Months later found those same papers (what luck!) and rolled a cigarette without thinking about it, minutes later I was asking my now wife if she "could hear the helicopter sounds…

A couple of crumbs to follow:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEET

https://www.beyondpesticides.org/programs/mosquitos-and-inse...

Re: Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests

#14

Post by cat199 »

Interesting findings, but how do we blame the Russians for this?

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latin-america/u-s-officials-sus...

" The suspicion that Russia is likely behind the alleged attacks is backed up by evidence from communications intercepts, known in the spy world as signals intelligence, amassed during a lengthy and ongoing investigation involving the FBI, the CIA and other U.S. agencies. The officials declined to elaborate on the nature of the intelligence. "

Re: Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests

#15

Post by altec3 »

TrinaryWorksToo wrote: post #12
aug_aug wrote: post #9

Possibly related tidbit - I used to roll my own cigarettes when working in the field as a geologist, left a pack of papers under the seat of my truck which had no carpeting, spilled 100% DEET on the floor, DEET absorbed into pack of papers. Months later found those same papers (what luck!) and rolled a cigarette without thinking about it, minutes later I was asking my now wife if she "could hear the helicopter sounds…

DEET is not a pesticide. Are you thinking of DDT?

This article does say it has insecticidal properties - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4125160/

Re: Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests

#16

Post by Donald »

aug_aug wrote: post #9

Possibly related tidbit - I used to roll my own cigarettes when working in the field as a geologist, left a pack of papers under the seat of my truck which had no carpeting, spilled 100% DEET on the floor, DEET absorbed into pack of papers. Months later found those same papers (what luck!) and rolled a cigarette without thinking about it, minutes later I was asking my now wife if she "could hear the helicopter sounds…

DEET is a good acetylcholinesterase inhibitor - certainly possible it has mild hallucinogenic effects.

Re: Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests

#17

Post by skim_milk »

aug_aug wrote: post #9

Possibly related tidbit - I used to roll my own cigarettes when working in the field as a geologist, left a pack of papers under the seat of my truck which had no carpeting, spilled 100% DEET on the floor, DEET absorbed into pack of papers. Months later found those same papers (what luck!) and rolled a cigarette without thinking about it, minutes later I was asking my now wife if she "could hear the helicopter sounds…

When my father was a child, he would bike behind the trucks that sprayed DDT all over the neighborhood because the DDT mist kept him cool. I hope you'll be fine, because people have done much worse!

Re: Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests

#18

Post by codezero »

cat199 wrote: post #14

Interesting findings, but how do we blame the Russians for this? https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latin-america/u-s-officials-sus... " The suspicion that Russia is likely behind the alleged attacks is backed up by evidence from communications intercepts, known in the spy world as signals intelligence, amassed during a lengthy and ongoing investigation involving the FBI, the CIA and other U.S. agencies. The officials decl…

At this point I think we owe Cuba and Russia an apology for the hysteria involved.

However, if you're looking for a reason you can always find one. From the article, it sounds like the spraying of pesticides was "more than usual" which might mean it was done intentionally to appear as an accident, since the spraying is a good cover.

I expect this would be easy enough to check on if they only sprayed with more frequency at diplomatic residences and the embassy.

Edit: a few replies here are really more thoughtful than my comment. I recommend reading them :)

Re: Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests

#19

Post by tyingq »

altec3 wrote: post #15
TrinaryWorksToo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DEET is not a pesticide. Are you thinking of DDT?

This article does say it has insecticidal properties - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4125160/

It's the insect repellent in, for example, "Off" spray.

Re: Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests

#20

Post by hellofunk »

> The embassies actively sprayed in offices, as well as inside and outside diplomatic residences — sometimes five times more frequently than usual. Many times, spraying operations were carried out every two weeks, according to embassy records.

Wow, that is really alarming. I would never feel comfortable with that inside my home or office.

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