Consumer Reports – September 2019

exposed skin may help pick
up ticks still crawling on you.
Wear light-colored clothes.
Ticks are dark, so lighter
colors will show them better.
If you have a tick, remove it
and save it! Place the tick in
a freezer bag and put it in the
freezer. Chances are it will still
be alive upon removal. Saving
the tick will help your doctor
determine what kind of tick
it is and whether it may have
passed a disease on to you.
—Chris Lupo, Guilderland, NY

IN TEXAS, the (also not-
so-desirable) fire ant has
reduced the tick population
significantly. Fire ants have a
painful sting but apparently
don’t carry diseases like the
tick. Anyone in Texas would
probably send some fire ants
to anyone who wants them!
—Dru Edrington, Georgetown, TX

EDITOR’S NOTE Fire ants do
prey on ticks, but the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
reports that tick-borne diseases
are on the rise nationwide—even
in Texas. Also, some people
may have a potentially life-
threatening allergic reaction
to fire ant stings, according
to the American College of
Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
So a good tick repellent is still
your best bet.

YOU DID NOT INCLUDE tick-
borne relapsing fever. I know
someone who nearly died from
this, having been unknowingly
bitten by a tick while on
vacation in Oregon. Because of
its flulike symptoms, he waited
about five days before going
to the doctor. He spent four
weeks in the intensive care
unit and two more weeks in
the hospital before going home
to slowly recuperate.
—Kathleen Mogan,
Spokane, WA

EDITOR’S NOTE We’re sorry
to hear about this experience.
Tick-borne relapsing fever can
be very serious, but it’s also
rare. For more information, go
to cdc.gov/relapsing-fever.

SUNSCREEN

SMARTS

AS A DERMATOLOGIST who

has been involved with

sunscreen testing (“Is Your

Sunscreen Safe?” July 2019),

I find your articles the best

source of information about

effectiveness and cost, and

I always pass them along to

patients and students.

—Arnold Ison, St. Petersburg, FL

SINCE I SPEND a lot of time

outdoors, I was happy to read

your feature on sunscreens.

However, your ratings include

no information on fragrances.

I can use only products that are

fragrance-free (or nearly so). I

would love to find alternatives

among your more highly

rated sunscreens.

—Joan Campbell,

Reynoldsburg, OH

EDITOR’S NOTE Our panel

of trained sensory experts

evaluates every sunscreen for

scent and feel. All-Access and

Digital members can find scent

and feel information for all

the sunscreens in our ratings

at CR.org/sunscreens0919,

but here are three of CR’s

recommended sunscreens that

are fragrance-free or very

lightly scented: La Roche-Posay

Anthelios 60 Melt-in Sunscreen

Milk, Coppertone Ultra Guard

Lotion SPF 70, and Trader Joe’s

Spray SPF 50+.

A MOWER

DEMOTION

WHY ARE CUB CADET riding

lawn mowers rated so poorly

this month (“A Cut Above,”

July 2019), when they were

rated so highly last year?

—Charles Sterner,

Fredericksburg, VA

EDITOR’S NOTE Cub Cadet

lawn tractors, which held a

high rank in our lawn mower

ratings in 2018, fell this year

almost exclusively because of

the brand’s predicted reliability

rating. Our reliability and

satisfaction data, which were

included in our scoring of

mowers for the first time in

2019, are based on our survey,

which asked CR members

about their experiences with

more than 30,000 walk-

behind mowers and

12,000 riding mowers.

THE ARTICLE on lawn mowers

leaves out the environmental

costs of Americans’ obsession

with perfect expanses of

green around their homes.

Sure, finding a good buy on

a lawn mower matters, but

that singular focus precludes

a wider view of the damage

to water supplies, insects,

and birds—and the general

household budget. A perfect

lawn is essentially a green

desert. Some lawn-care

products contain nitrogen

and phosphorus that pollute

surface streams, rivers, and

more. Consumers should

minimize their lawn size to

an area they actually use,

and tolerate dandelions.

CR’s mission as a change agent

and protector of consumers

should be extended to make

environmental consequences

a constant.

—Frances Cerra Whittelsey,

Huntington, NY

KEY-FOB

THEFTS

“UNLOCK THE POWER of Your

Car’s Key Fob,” in the July

2019 issue, did not mention

that car thieves love these

devices because the crooks

can store your signals when

you use the device.

—John Dickey, Smelterville, ID

EDITOR’S NOTE That

information isn’t “stored.” The

latest trend of key-fob-related

theft is done using a “relay

attack” device, which is

actually two devices working

in tandem. One device

captures the signal coming

from the car key fob when

a driver uses it to lock his

or her vehicle. It then transmits

that signal to a smaller device

used to gain access to the

vehicle. In many—but not

all—cases, it will also allow

the vehicle to be started and

driven away.

SAFE DRINKING

WATER

“WHAT’S IN YOUR Bottled

Water?” (Safety Update, July

2019) covers some important

information on arsenic

in bottled water but only

brief ly mentions the most

effective way to avoid it: Stop

buying bottled water! The

vast majority of America’s

drinking water is safe.

—Helen Mango, Ph.D.,

Castleton, VT

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consumer-reports

SEPTEMBER 2019 CR.ORG 9