Cinnamon Beats DEET Against Mosquitoes
Saturday July 17, 2004
A study published in the July 14th issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry reports that the compounds in cinnamon oil are more potent in killing mosquitoes than DEET (usually used as a repellent, but also poisonous). The researchers tested eleven compounds found in cinnamon leaf oil for their capacity to kill the larvae of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that carries yellow fever. Four of the compounds had LC50 values (concentration required to kill 50% of the larvae within 24 hours) of less than 50 parts per million (ppm). Is is expected that the cinnamon oil will prove similarly lethal against larvae of other types of mosquitoes, providing a safe, natural, pleasant-smelling alternative to other pesticides. Read the American Chemical Society press release to learn more.
DEET Chemistry | Natural Mosquito Repellents
DEET Chemistry | Natural Mosquito Repellents
Comments
This summary is inaccurate and confused. The study did not suggest that DEET is used as a poison against larvae (the writer might be confusing DEET with DDT, a completely different substance that has been used for poisoning mosquito larvae). The authors examined how extracts from cinnamon killed mosquito larvae. They did not compare the cinnamon chemicals with DEET in their assays. The insecticides tested will not provide a “pleasant smelling” alternative to DEET because they are used in a totally different context!
Thank you Susan!! Though I have not done any research on this subject, I was wondering what “killing mosquito larvae” had to do with mosquito “repellent”.
While this may claim to help keep the mosquitos away…my son would be in hospital. He’s allergic to cinnamon. “Natural” isn’t always better.
This article says absolutely nothing about mosquito repelling, it just tells how to kill mosquito larvae. Why try to mislead the public??
you suck
Actually Susan is wrong…and although the article might be misleading, it’s probably correct. The article CLAIMS that DEET was used to try to kill larvae, when it’s usually used as a repellent. In this context, cinnamon oil was more effective…but then again it was compared against a product NOT intended to control larvae. Therefore the article is NOT wrong…although the basis for the research is skewed. Kind of like comparing green tea and kool-aid in making the best kind of tea.
IF they actually wanted this ’study’ to be valid they would have compared cinnamon oil against the usual chemicals used in controlling mosquito larvae population.
u rock no matter what they say. u have made me become interested in learning again thanks
The article has since been corrected to indicate that DEET is more typically a repellant, not a larvicide. See link:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/11053.php