Which mosquito repellent product is the safest and most effective?

Mosquitoes are around every year, how can we avoid them? In order to avoid being harassed by these bloodsuckers, humans have been constantly developing various countermeasures. From passive defense mosquito nets and screens, to active attack insecticides and mosquito repellents, to ambiguous floral water, to the popular mosquito repellent bracelets in recent years, which faction can be truly safe and effective?

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01

Pyrethroids

Active Killing Weapon

The ideas for dealing with mosquitoes can be divided into two schools: active killing and passive defense. Among them, the active killing school not only has a long history, but also has intuitive effects. In household mosquito repellents represented by mosquito coils, electric mosquito tablets, electric mosquito coil liquid, aerosol insecticides, etc., the main active ingredient is pyrethroids. It is a broad-spectrum insecticide that can prevent and control a variety of pests and has a strong contact killing effect. Its mechanism of action is to disrupt the nerves of insects, causing them to die from excitement, spasms to paralysis. When using mosquito repellents, in order to better kill mosquitoes, people usually try to keep the indoor environment in a closed state to keep the content of pyrethroids at a relatively stable level.

The most significant advantage of pyrethroids is their high efficiency, requiring only a relatively low concentration to knock down mosquitoes. Although pyrethroids can be metabolized and excreted after being inhaled into the human body, they are still slightly toxic and have a certain impact on the human nervous system. Long-term exposure may also cause symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, abnormal nerve sensations, and even nerve paralysis. Therefore, when using mosquito repellents during sleep, it is best not to place them around the bedside to avoid inhaling air containing excessively high concentrations of pyrethroids and causing discomfort.

In addition, aerosol insecticides often contain aromatic harmful substances, so people with allergies need to avoid using aerosol insecticides. For example, leave the room immediately after spraying an appropriate amount and close the doors and windows, and then come back a few hours later to open the windows for ventilation, so as to ensure both the effectiveness and safety of killing mosquitoes.

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According to the relevant provisions of the national "Regulations on Pesticide Management", products that prevent, eliminate or control mosquitoes and flies must obtain a pesticide registration number and mark the toxicity on the packaging as long as they claim to have the effect of "killing mosquitoes" or "repelling mosquitoes". Therefore, it is recommended that you look for the pesticide registration number when purchasing mosquito killing and repelling products.

At present, the common pyrethroids on the market are mainly cyfluthrin and cyfluthrin. Studies have shown that cyfluthrin has a better knockdown effect on mosquitoes than cyfluthrin, but cyfluthrin is safer than cyfluthrin. Therefore, when purchasing mosquito repellent products, you can make specific choices based on the user. If there are no children at home, it is better to choose products containing cyfluthrin; if there are children at home, it is safer to choose products containing cyfluthrin.

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02

Mosquito repellent spray and water

Stay safe by deceiving mosquitoes' sense of smell

After talking about active killing, let's talk about passive defense. This school is a bit like the "Golden Bell Cover and Iron Cloth Shirt" in Jin Yong's novels. Instead of confronting mosquitoes head-on, we use some methods to keep these "vampires" away from us and isolate them outside the safe range.

Among these, mosquito repellent sprays and mosquito repellent water are the main representatives. Their mosquito repellent principle is to spray them on the skin and clothing, using the smell that mosquitoes hate or forming a protective layer around the skin to interfere with the mosquito's sense of smell, making it unable to smell the special smell emitted by the human body, thereby isolating mosquitoes.

Many people believe that floral water, which also has the function of "repelling mosquitoes", is a perfume product made of floral oil as the main fragrance, combined with alcohol, etc. Their main functions are to remove dirt, kill bacteria, prevent prickly heat and relieve itching. Although it can also have a certain mosquito repellent effect, compared with mosquito repellent spray and mosquito repellent water, both the working principle and the main ingredients are completely different, and the two cannot be used in place of each other.

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03

Mosquito repellent bracelets and patches

Whether it is useful or not depends on the core ingredients

In recent years, the types of mosquito repellent products on the market have become increasingly diverse. Many wearable mosquito repellent products, such as mosquito repellent stickers, mosquito repellent buckles, mosquito repellent watches, mosquito repellent wristbands, mosquito repellent pendants, etc., are favored by many people, especially parents of children, because they do not need to directly contact the skin. These products are generally worn on people, and the smell of the medicine forms a protective layer around the human body, interfering with the mosquito's sense of smell, thereby playing a role in repelling mosquitoes.

When purchasing this type of mosquito repellent product, in addition to checking the pesticide registration number, you also need to check whether it contains truly effective ingredients, and choose products with appropriate ingredients and concentrations based on the usage scenario and user.

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At present, there are four main safe and effective mosquito repellent ingredients registered by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): DEET, Picaridin, IR3535/Imonen, and Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE) or its extract PMD. Among them, the first three are chemical synthetics, and the latter is a plant ingredient; in terms of effect, DEET has a good mosquito repellent effect and a long duration, followed by Picaridin and IR3535, and the duration of mosquito repellent of oil of lemon eucalyptus is shorter.

From the perspective of safety, since DEET is somewhat irritating to the skin, we generally recommend that children use mosquito repellent products with a DEET content of less than 10%. For infants under 6 months old, do not use mosquito repellent products containing DEET. DEET has no toxic side effects on the skin and will not penetrate into the skin. It is currently recognized as a relatively safe mosquito repellent product and can be used daily. Lemon eucalyptus oil can be extracted from natural substances. It is safe and does not irritate the skin, but the terpenes, olefins and hydrocarbons it contains may cause allergies. Therefore, in many European and American countries, it is not recommended for children under three years old.

The picture comes from the Internet

04

For pregnant women and babies

We recommend the physical mosquito repellent method that puts safety first.

Whether it is mosquito repellent, mosquito repellent water or mosquito repellent patch, they are all chemical mosquito repellents. Although chemical mosquito repellents are effective and convenient, for pregnant women and babies under six months old, it is recommended to use safer physical mosquito repellents.

At present, the physical mosquito repellent products on the market mainly include mosquito lamps and electric mosquito swatters. The shape of the mosquito swatter is very similar to that of a tennis racket, with high-voltage static electricity between the metal wires. Just waving the "racket" can electrocute the mosquitoes that are unfortunate enough to touch the net, but due to the electricity, it is more recommended for adults to use it. The mosquito lamp uses the phototaxis of mosquitoes to attract them, causing them to be sucked in, stuck or electrocuted, and eventually dried out and dehydrated to death. The operation decibel of the mosquito lamp is low, which basically has no impact on sleep, and has a high safety factor. Just be careful to set it out of the reach of children.

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Author: Yuan Zhiqin, Associate Professor, Beijing University of Chemical Technology

Review | Xiong Bin Associate Professor, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University

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