In this season of mosquito-borne diseases, you hope mosquito repellents work and protect you from zika virus to dengue fever. However, according to experts, not all repellents are effective in warding off mosquitos. Researchers say that some repellents definitely work, while some popular products come out as surprisingly ineffective.
With the recent Zika virus outbreak, many bug repellents became best-selling products, Immo Hansen, the senior member of the research team, says. "They're very popular," Hansen says about the number of products for sale on Amazon.com. However, the study conducted by Hansen and colleagues reveals that most of these best-selling repellents won't do you any good.
In an experiment on which mosquito repellents effectively work against those pesky bugs, the researchers had human volunteers, who had not get a shower or use a deodorant for 15 hours before the experiment, stay in wind tunnels infested with mosquitoes. Researchers tested 11 products from Amazon.com and local stores in New Mexico, five wearable devices, five sprays and one candle. Fifteen minutes after releasing the mosquitoes, researchers determine how many were attracted to the person's smell by counting how many bugs had come close to the participant, the Grand Forks Herald reports.
Of the five wearable devices, only one worked: the OFF! Clip-on. Its insect-repelling chemical known as metofluthrin significantly reduced the number of mosquitoes drawn to the participants' scents. None of the other wearable devices including a speaker to repel mosquitoes and three bracelets that emitted different oils had any effect on reducing attraction, including the candle with citronella oil, the Fox News reports.
All of the spray-on mosquito repellents work by significantly reducing the number of mosquitoes attracted to the participants. Attraction rates varying from about 30 percent (with Cutter Lemon Eucalyptus and Ben's Tick & Insect Repellent) to about 79 percent. The tested spray-ons generally used DEET or oils like lemon eucalyptus, which researchers recommend consumers should look for in bug repellents.
