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Are YOU a Natural Mosquito Repellant?

Nothing is more frustrating than returning home from a day outside to find angry, red bumps covering your arms and legs. You immediately realize that you were just lunch for a family of mosquitoes. What’s worse, you look over at your friend and she doesn’t have a bite on her. How is this possible?

Recent studies have revealed that some people may give off a natural mosquito repellent that keeps mosquitoes from biting.

This article will cover:

• History of the human repellant theory
• What’s in a natural mosquito repellant cocktail
• What to do if you’re NOT a natural mosquito repellant

History of the human repellant theory

As early as the 1990s, scientists began speculating about a natural mosquito repellent present in some people. But with all of the different smells and chemical compounds within humans, it was difficult to isolate the ones that kept mosquitoes at bay.

In the United Kingdom, scientists found proof from an unlikely source that a natural mosquito repellent may exist in humans. Professor John Pickett from Rothamsted Research in the United Kingdom began studying chemical signals in cattle that attracted flying pests. He and his team of researchers noted that certain cows gave off chemical signals that were unattractive to biting insects. When they moved these unattractive cows to another herd, the number of flies bothering the unmoved cows increased. These unattractive cows were clearly keeping mosquitoes at a distance.

So what do cows have to do with humans?

Everything, according to one of Pickett’s colleagues, Dr. James Logan. He decided to test if some humans were natural mosquito repellants. He did this by placing volunteers in foil sleeping bags for two hours to collect their smells. He then tested the collected odors to find out what smells delicious to a mosquito and what doesn’t.

What’s in a natural mosquito repellant cocktail

Logan’s initial research and studies since then have revealed what goes into a mosquito’s ideal Bloody Mary. Logan’s results showed that unattractive humans gave off compounds that either acted as a natural mosquito repellent or covered up the attractive odors. He found that some of the most attractive odors may be related to stress.

Only about seven or eight body chemicals have been identified as potentially related to your level of attractiveness to a hungry mosquito. When put to the test, two compounds were determined to make a significant difference in repellency.

Ingredients for a natural mosquito repellant cocktail:

• 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one
• Geranylacetone

Before you go searching your cabinets, look no further than your own skin.

6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one

This is a skin compound which smells like a less pungent nail-polish remover, making you unappetizing to mosquitoes.

Geranylacetone

This compound actually has a more pleasant odor, but scientists have not identified its source. It has not been determined whether it is something in a person’s biochemical make up or picked up in the environment.

What do these compounds do for you?

When these chemicals are present, mosquitoes may believe the host is diseased or injured. In other words, you taste gross.

What to do if you’re NOT a natural mosquito repellant

Don’t worry if you’re not emitting natural mosquito repellent, there are other ways to protect yourself (without harmful chemicals):

• Wear long sleeves and pants make of a thick fabric outdoors
• Use fans when sitting with the windows open. Mosquitoes have trouble flying in the wind.
• Remove standing water from your property (mosquitoes breed there).
• Use all natural pesticides in your yard.

EcoSMART also makes a natural bug spray that will keep mosquitoes from using you as a source for their happy hour.

Now next time you head out with your friend, the natural bug zapper, you can both return home unharmed.