Scientists compared 10 commercially available insect repellants to test their effectiveness at keeping mosquitos away and found products containing DEET were most effective, but some other non-DEET products were also relatively effective.
The team compared the DEET-containing products Repel 100® Insect Repellent, OFF® Deep Woods Insect Repellent VIII, and Cutter® Skinsations Insect Repellent with non-DEET Cutter® Natural Insect Repellent, EcoSmart® Organic Insect Repellent, Cutter® Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent, and Avon® Skin So Soft Bug Guard. They also looked at the effectiveness of Avon® Skin So Soft Bath Oil, Victoria's Secret® Bombshell perfume, and Mosquito Skin Patch®, the Entomological Society of America reported. The products were tested with the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti and the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus, both of which have been known to carry dengue fever, chikungunya, and yellow fever.
Both species of mosquitos were observed to be strongly repelled by the DEET products. Aedes aegypti was either not repelled at all or only repelled for 30 minutes by the most of the non-DEET products. The exception to this rules was Cutter® Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent, which kept the mosquitos at bay for the entire 240-minute-long test. The skin patch was not found to have any repellant qualities at any time. For Aedes albopictus two of the non-DEET repellents significantly repelled mosquitoes throughout the duration of the study and Avon® Skin So Soft Bug Guard worked for 120 minutes.
"The results of this study show that not all commercially available mosquito repellents are effective in repelling mosquitoes and that efficacy is also dependent on the species of mosquito that is repelled," the authors wrote. "Overall, the results from this study confirm that DEET repellents are the most effective mosquito repellents in the market. Although, based on the results from this study, a lemon-eucalyptus oil containing p-menthane-3,8-diol (PMD) [the active ingredient in Cutter Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent] has similar efficacy to DEET repellents."
The researchers were most surprised to find the Victoria's Secret® Bombshell perfume repelled both species of mosquitos for 120 minutes.
"Our results challenge the notion that floral perfume-scented sprays, in general, attract mosquitoes," the authors wrote. "Floral fragrances may provide a masking odor resulting in low mosquito attraction rates, but over a shorter duration of time."
The researchers noted high doses of the perfume were used in the experiment, and lower concentrations might not be as effective.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the Journal of Insect Science.
