Does your insect repellant work?
Here's an article on what works and what doesn't: Text As expected DEET works and most "natural products" don't. There are a couple of newer synthetics that also work. And Lemon Eucalyptus oil i...
Forum Discussion
The natural ingredients of Skin So Soft Bug Guard plus SPF 30
Insect Repellent Active Ingredient:
beta-alanine,
n-acetyl-N-butyl-,
ethyl ester/carboxylic acid
20.0%
Active Sunscreen Ingredients:
Octocrylene 10%
Octinoxate 7.5%
Oxybenzone 6%
Octisalate 5%
Other Ingredients:
SD ALCOHOL 40-B
WATER
HEXYLENE GLYCOL
POLYURETHANE COPOLYMER
FRAGRANCE (see below)
ALOE BARBADENSIS EXTRACT
TOCOPHERYL ACETATE
Fragrances are just chemicals that produce odors and when these individual fragrances are mixed in the right proportions the odor is pleasing to some and repellents for others.
Then there is this...
It's hard to compare the safety of the natural repellents to synthetic repellents when the natural repellents don't go through the same level of safety testing and adverse reactions are underreported (according to the FDA).
Insect Repellent Active Ingredient:
beta-alanine,
n-acetyl-N-butyl-,
ethyl ester/carboxylic acid
20.0%
Active Sunscreen Ingredients:
Octocrylene 10%
Octinoxate 7.5%
Oxybenzone 6%
Octisalate 5%
Other Ingredients:
SD ALCOHOL 40-B
WATER
HEXYLENE GLYCOL
POLYURETHANE COPOLYMER
FRAGRANCE (see below)
ALOE BARBADENSIS EXTRACT
TOCOPHERYL ACETATE
Fragrances are just chemicals that produce odors and when these individual fragrances are mixed in the right proportions the odor is pleasing to some and repellents for others.
Then there is this...
There also are many repellent products containing plant derived chemicals. The most common of these is citronella, although a variety of other essential oils are used as well. In general, these products are just as repellent as deet but do not last as long. An exception may be MosquitoSafe, a new product based on geraniol, which is reported to have similar longevity to that of deet. As long as it is understood that frequent reapplication is necessary, plant-derived repellents should provide the same protection against mosquito bites as deet. Also, it should be noted that these chemicals are generally regarded as safe by the Environmental Protection Agency and therefore have undergone much less safety testing than deet.
Source: CSU Extension
It's hard to compare the safety of the natural repellents to synthetic repellents when the natural repellents don't go through the same level of safety testing and adverse reactions are underreported (according to the FDA).
