PHEREC Insect Repellent Study

Under contract with The Good Houskeeping Institute, PHEREC researchers John Smith, Tom Floore and Jack Petersen recently evaluated the short-term repellency of 6 commercially available insect repellents and one electronic device.

The 6 repellents were: OFF!®, OFF! Skintastic IV® spray, Cutter® spray, Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard   plus IR3535 lotion®,  Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil®, & Alfresco Moisturizing Repellent®.          The electronic device,  MosquitoContro®, was a wrist band  that emits vibrations.

Large,  walk-in   screened enclosures measuring 15'W X 20'D X 8'H containing more than 10,000 mosquitoes were used in  this study.  Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes taeniorhynchus   were   the   mosquito  species tested.  Exposure times were 5 minutes.   Controls      [i.e., no repellent] were conducted before,   during  and after the test exposures.      Products were tested according to a   randomized design.  Analysis of variance was carried  out   on   transformed  count data.   

The results were published in the August 2000 issue of Good Housekeeping which is reproduced below [Please scan down].

The Panama City News Herald carried a news item reporting our repellent study.  The online version is available at http://www.newsherald.com/articles/2000/09/04/hl090400a.htm

Also check your local television station for a segment to be televised on Dateline NBC on Monday, July 17, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. CST.

This  work  is  continuing  and more detailed results will be published at the completion of the study.

Thanks for your patience!

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To contact us:

Dr. John P. Smith,
PHEREC Director
Tel:     (850) 872-4184