Citronella oil benefits, how to use, side effects and safety. To be continually effective, most citronella repellent formulas need to be reapplied to the skin every 3060 minutes. An online survey of personal mosquito repellent strategies. These products, which vary in efficacy, repel various insects, some of which are public health pests. Knowledge on traditional repellent plants obtained through. Try a diy homemade mosquito repellent for your yard. Pdf study of citronella leaf based herbal mosquito. Oil components include citronellal and geraniol, which are good for cleaning.
Citronella based repellents only protect from hostseeking mosquitoes for about two hours although formulation of the repellent is very important 31,32. Learn about five natural mosquito repellents that are derived from natural materials such as plants and other alternative methods to keep the. Essential oil bug spray essential oils for mosquitoes. Study of citronella leaf based herbal mosquito repellents using natural binders. Extraction of citronella cymbopogon nardus essential oil. You can diffuse the oil in your home or backyard just like a candle using a diffuser. N,ndiethyl3methylbenzamide deet, citronella, and fennel oil. The oil works by masking the human fragrances that insects find appealing. It is the only natural repellent that is registered with the u. I created it because whenever i would put bug spray on in our backyard my dog would lick my legs and it freaked me out that he was ingesting chemicals. Citronella oil is a natural insect repellant, especially for mosquitoes. Cymbopogon winterianus citronella essential oil slightly sweet, powerful and lemony scent. Rather than killing insects, citronella oil masks the scents they seek when hunting for meals.
It is an ideal companion for camping, hiking, and trips to the great outdoors. Citronella grass oil as mosquito repellent abstract the study aims to produce oil economically available and accessible to the people. In the open ended question picaridin was mentioned by 59 participants and ir3535 only once. Most of these essential oil based repellents tend to give shortlasting protection for less than 2 h choochote et al. This means that it has an effective and yet nontoxic effect on the human body. Many common mosquito sprays contain harmful ingredients, so it is important to read labels carefully before buying and using repellents. Epa, only the following acfive ingredients in repellents are evaluated by epa for. When the biting bugs cannot find you or your kids, they go elsewhere looking for dinner.
Repellents that are currently available are either synthetic chemicals, such as deet, picaridin, and ir3535, or plant derived chemicals such as citronella and oil of. Citronella oil is an essential oil which is made from a variety of lemon grass named cymbopogon. Ijmrk2 effective mosquito repellent from plant based ijmr. Many natural plant oil repellents have not been properly tested for preventing tick bites, and only prevent mosquito bites for a short amount of time. Tests have shown it to be less effective than the standard chemical used in repellants, deet. Active 15% deet 6 hours burts bees herbal insect repellent 40% rosemary oil. Each 11 oz candle burns up to 30 hours and is made with real citronella oil for protection that lasts. Environmental protection and toxic substances february. Youll want to first mix all of your essential oils, and then mix them thoroughly with the virgin coconut oil. Comparison of repellency effect of mosquito repellents for. Its mosquito repellent qualities have been verified by research, including effectiveness in repelling aedes aegypti dengue fever mosquito. A wellknown benefit of citronella essential oil is its natural ability to repel mosquitoes.
List of bug repellent essential oils the miracle of. Another great way to use essential oils for mosquitoes is by making your own room spray. Mosquito and tick repellents introduction university of. Department of agriculture usda entomologists tested the efficacy of three citronella based mosquito repellents in 2004. Citronella oil of citronella is a common ingredient in plantbased mosquito repellents. Some of these mosquito repellent are derived from the followingbasil ocimum basilicum, oils of castor, cedar, clove, fennel, citronella 3, eucalyptus, neem 4, 5, 6, rosemary and catnip oil of nepeta species having. Due to the high volatility of citronella oil it evaporates quickly off the skin, making citronellas staying power as a natural insect repellent very limited. Meanwhile, personal sonic mosquito repellent and citronella candles actually drew more than 90% of the mosquitoes, which was more than the 88% found to venture that way in the control test. Reevaluation of citronella oil and related active compounds for use as personal insect repellents pdf. The smell is amazing and you dont have to worry about getting deet on your clothes, furniture or, most importantly, your skin. Citronella grass oil as mosquito repellent essay 767 words.
The use of mosquito repellents to protect human hosts and. Research has also found that neem oil is mosquito repellent for up to 12 hours. Essential oils as repellents against arthropods ncbi. The study specifically focuses on using lemon grass or citronella grass or cymbopogon marginatus as a mosquito repellent in ointment.
Effectiveness of citronella preparations in preventing. To make a natural room freshener, put a few drops of oil along with water into a spritzer bottle. Homemade natural mosquito repellent 2 easy recipes that. Repellents make humans unattractive to a mosquito so that it will avoid areas of the body that have been treated with the product.
Potential of citronella oil as rodent repellent measured as aversion to food. Oil of citronella has been used for over 50 years as an insect repellent and as an animal repellent. The use of citronella oil in insect repellent products is prohibited in some countries, but it is legal to use in the usa and the epa considers it safe for human use. As a last line of defense, employ leasttoxic mosquito repellents but with the understanding that no acceptable repellent will provide complete protection from bites. Initially, citronella, which contains citronellal, citronellol, geraniol, citral. Mosquito repellents from natural sources are not new. Diy natural mosquito repellent using essential oils.
Through some research, i learned that the best all natural mosquito repellent often contains some of the following essential oils. A repellent is generally defined as a substance that discourages arthropods from landing or biting human. How to repel mosquitoes safely w beyond pesticides. These mosquito bracelets are adjustable and can be cut to size. Many mosquito repellent recipes can be made with ingredients you already have at home. It is found in many familiar insect repellent products. Find out what research has learned about citronella oil and its uses. Citronella oil has demonstrated good efficacy against 44 mosquitoes in concentrations ranging from 0. Encapsulated citronella oil nanoemulsion is prepared by highpressure homogenization of 2. Fortunately, essential oils are part of a solution which doesnt have to break the bank and were here to tell you how to make your very own natural mosquito and insect repellent using our citronella essential oil and just a few other ingredients. Environmental protection agency epa and recommended by the centers for. You can find the exact recipe to make your own essential oil mosquito repellent here.
Bens wilderness insect repellent 30% deet 8 hours sawyer insect repellent, 30% deet 30% deet 7 hours repel lemon eucalyptus oil of lemon eucalyptus 6 hours off. A study carried out by london school of hygiene and tropical medicine in 2011 on the efficacy of plantbased insect repellents showed that products containing peppermint, lemongrass, geraniol, pine oil, pennyroyal, cedar oil, thyme oil and patchouli essential oils, among others, were effective against a wide variety of insects. Cutter citroguard 11 oz citronella outdoor mosquito candle. Cutter citro guard candles repel mosquitoes and other flying insects. Oil of lemon eucalyptus is one of many natural products. How to make homemade mosquito repellent for yard family. Pdf repellents act by stimulating the primary or secondary defense mechanisms, causing the food to be rejected. Most natural insect repellents such as citronella, neem oil, and herbal extracts are no longer permitted for sale as insect repellents in the eu due to their lack of effectiveness. Are citronella candles an effective mosquito repellent. Is citronella grass your best bet for a natural mosquito. Water based paint with java citronella oil as mosquito. Essential oils such as lemon eucalyptus oil, citronella oil, cinnamon oil or castor oil. Citronella oil is wellknown as an insect repellant. Lemon grass oil as a mosquito repellent and adulticidal agent for the prevention of mosquito borne diseases in.
Many plant extracts and oils repel mosquitoes, with their effect lasting from several minutes to. Safely repel mosquitos from both children and adults. Citronella oil java type was selected as a positive control in all performed repellency tests because it is a renowned plantbased natural insect repellent, registered for this use in the united states and considered as a biopesticide with a nontoxic mode of action. In vitro comparison of three common essential oils mosquito. Oil of lemon eucalyptus has been found to be the most effective natural mosquito repellent. When it comes to insect repellent efficacy means how well a product works in repelling biting insects. The release rate relates well to the protection time so that a decrease in release rate can prolong mosquito protection time.
Choosing which solution is better for you depends on how often you wish to apply the repellant and how sensitive your skin is to citronella oil. Natural repellents and some essential oils may be effective in keeping mosquitoes away because they block their sense of smell, making it harder. Once thoroughly mixed, allow the coconut oil to harden. While the plant itself is not effective for repelling mosquitoes, citronella oil is classified and registered by the environmental protection agency epa as a biopesticide. A 2016 study found that the efficacy of this particular oil falls third in line, behind deet and picaridin. Taken from my essential oils guide, here are several methods for safely using citronella oil at home aromatically.
Essential oil insect repellent is a timely solution, then, as people have been hunting for natural bug repellents which dont have any side effects. My favorite is in the form of a diy essential oil mosquito repellent that you can spray on your skin. Research has shown that repellents based on natural oils or herbs are less effective on mosquitoes. To confirm that korean food and drug administration kfda guidelines are applicable to test the efficacy of mosquito repellents, these guidelines were used to test the efficacy and complete protection times cpts of three representative mosquito repellents. Unconventional mosquito repellent methods the major goal of this study was to collect. It is distilled from two species of grasses and is a mixture of more than 80 different compounds. Generating an epub file may take a long time, please be patient. Citronella candles burn in many backyards on summer nights because of the belief that they repel mosquitoes like cinnamon repels ants. Many mosquito repellents and insect repellents are used to control mosquito menace. The researchers concluded that citronella oil plus vanillin demonstrated a repellency equivalent to the standard repellents, deet and deet plus vanillin, with at least six hours complete protection against the yellow fever mosquito. Citronella oil is popular as a natural insect repellent. In short, do not be deterred from growing citronella grass and using the oil as a natural insect repellent.
While originally used in the early 20 th century to fend off mosquitoes in india, today, citronella essential oil is a common ingredient in commercial bug sprays and lotions. Pdf potential of citronella oil as rodent repellent. There are a couple of widelyused kinds of pure mosquito repellents, but several experts suggest that using essential oils based sprays as mosquito repellent is preferable compared to using. But while the oil of citronella does repel mosquitoes to some degree, in the amount and concentration that is put out via candles, its not very effective, says joseph conlon, a technical adviser for the. You can find citronella oil used in the food industry, in different beauty and cleaning products, and in mosquito repellents as well. Some are harmless, but some insects like mosquitoes harm. Citronella essential oil essential oils, essential oils citronella chinese essential oil from wellington fragrance botanical name. But what other benefits does it have and are there any side effects.
Most of these essential oilbased repellents tend to give shortlasting protection for less than 2 h choochote et al. There are two types of citronella oil named java and ceylon which are derived from cymbopogon. Insect repellents unh extension university of new hampshire. An insect repellent is a substance applied to skin, clothing, or other surfaces which discourages. However, those same tests indicate that it is an effective, natural deterrent against insects.