One plate of mosquito coils is equivalent to 137 cigarettes? This is not a rumor, but it cannot be simply compared.

With the arrival of summer, mosquito repellent has become a topic that cannot be ignored. Among the many methods of mosquito repellent, the most commonly used one is mosquito coils.

Mosquito coils are an ancient way to repel mosquitoes. They do not require a long time to set up like mosquito nets, nor do they require electricity to use like mosquito coils. You can easily repel mosquitoes at any time and any place by lighting a plate of mosquito coils. However, mosquito coils are not without disadvantages. The most obvious disadvantage is that they produce a lot of smoke. So is this smoke harmful to humans? There has been no formal research report on this issue before, but now there is.

According to a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the harmful substances released by lighting a mosquito coil are equivalent to approximately 75 to 137 cigarettes, of which the formaldehyde released is approximately equivalent to 51 cigarettes.

Are mosquito coils really that harmful? The data from this study is relatively rigorous, but it would be a bit biased to simply interpret that one plate of mosquito coils is equivalent to 137 cigarettes. There are indeed many harmful ingredients in mosquito coils, of course, the "harmful ingredients" here do not refer to the "mosquito repellent ingredients".

When it comes to mosquito repellent products, we tend to focus on the mosquito repellent ingredients in them. However, after the mosquito coils are ignited, in addition to the mosquito repellent ingredients, many other substances are released.

For example, the organic fillers, adhesives, flame retardants, etc. in mosquito coils are released during the combustion process, so a large number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, hydroxyl compounds, benzene, and a large number of fine particles with complex components appear in the smoke produced by the burning of mosquito coils. If we simply look at the pollutants released by a plate of mosquito coils, there are indeed a lot, but this does not mean that lighting a plate of mosquito coils is equivalent to smoking 137 cigarettes, because we will not inhale all the smoke released by a plate of mosquito coils into our bodies.

In fact, as long as mosquito coils are used correctly, the harmful substances actually inhaled into the body are very limited. So how to use mosquito coils correctly?

First, pay attention to the placement of mosquito coils. Some people like to place mosquito coils close to the bedside to improve the mosquito repellent effect. This is actually unnecessary. For a room of about 15 square meters, mosquito coils can have a good mosquito repellent effect no matter where they are placed. Therefore, the correct way to place mosquito coils is to place them 3 meters away from the bed, and the upwind position is best. Secondly, when lighting mosquito coils, keep the room ventilated. It is not suitable to use mosquito coils in a room with closed doors and windows.

Third, people with respiratory diseases, pregnant women and children should not use mosquito coils. If possible, it is best to use physical mosquito repellent methods, such as mosquito nets.

The last point is also very important, that is, you must buy qualified mosquito coil products. Mosquito coils are not products with high technical barriers, and it is not difficult to produce mosquito coils, so there are many fake and inferior mosquito coil products. The toxic substances in these products usually exceed the standard, which will bring greater harm to human health. So what is a qualified mosquito coil product? You only need to look for the "three certificates", namely the pesticide production license, the pesticide registration certificate and the pesticide standard. The toxicity level of such mosquito coils is "low toxicity" or "slightly toxic".

Compared with mosquito coils, electric mosquito coil liquid and electric mosquito coil tablets produce much fewer harmful substances when used, but they also contain slightly toxic ingredients, so you should also refer to the usage of mosquito coils when using them.

So, are there any mosquito repellent products that are effective and safe? Yes. The safety of a mosquito repellent product depends mainly on its ingredients. For example, mosquito repellents with DEET, pyrethroids, and picaridin as main ingredients are safe and effective mosquito repellent products. Even for infants and young children, these mosquito repellent products are safe.