What Chemicals are Safer to Repel Mosquitoes?
A Brief Discussion on Chlorinated Rubber Coatings
11/06/2025
Tween 80——“Star” Surfactant
16/07/2025
In summer, mosquitoes bite and spread diseases. The anticoagulants in mosquito saliva cause allergic reactions on the skin when they use their needle-like mouthparts and sucking blood. These lumps can be red, swollen, itchy, and even cause infection.
It is even more alarming to know that mosquitoes can also transmit serious diseases like malaria, dengue, and Japanese Encephalitis. The World Health Organization reports that mosquito-borne diseases cause hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. It is therefore imperative to learn effective and scientific insect repellent techniques.
Regardless of WHO (World Health Organization), CDC (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), NPIC (National Pesticide Information Center), the chemical mosquito repellent compounds recommended by these authorities include the following 4 types: DEET, Icaridin, IR3535, and SS220.
Table of Contents
DEET
DEET chemical name is N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide, also known as acetaminophen, commonly known as mosquito repellent, mosquito repellent, is currently the world’s largest amount of mosquito repellent chemicals. After more than 50 years of verification by many countries around the world, it is a highly effective and low-toxic mosquito repellent product.
DEET is the fog of war of mosquitoes, which can cover up human sweat and 1-octen-3-ol (1-octen-3-ol) in the breath, so that mosquitoes can not find the north. Subsequent studies have shown that DEET’s mosquito repellent mechanism is very complex. Until now, humans have not fully understood why DEET can repel mosquitoes.
The current mainstream view is that DEET mosquito repellent products with a content of less than 30% are absolutely safe, but it is still not recommended for babies within 2 months. Safety first, for babies, there are very few things that can be used, and it is still good for physical mosquito repellent.
Icaridin
Icaridin‘s chemical name is 1-(1-methylpropoxycarbonyl)-2-(2-hydroxyethyl) piperidine, with many trade names, and it is the most effective mosquito repellent except CDET certified by CDC. Interestingly, the commercially available Icaridin is actually a mixture of 4 optical isomers, all of which have mosquito repellent activity.
Icaridin’s Chinese name is Ecaridin, and it also has a name called Picaridin. In general, Icaridin and DEET have little difference in mosquito repellent effect, but the safety is greatly improved, and the skin irritation after testing is also less. But it is also not recommended for infants within 2 months.
Ethyl Butylacetylaminopropionate (IR3535)
IR3535 is commonly known as mosquito repellent or mosquito repellent ester, the chemical name is 3-(N-n-butyl-N-acetyl)-aminopropionic acid ethyl ester, also known as ethyl butylacetamidopropionate, the Chinese common name is Iraq Munning. This compound itself is a derivative of β-alanine, and its biodegradation is relatively complete, and its toxicity to the human body and the environment is negligible.
The biggest advantage of safety. Among the mosquito repellents recommended by WHO and CDC, IR3535 is the only one that can be used for infants, pregnant women and lactating women.
SS220
SS220 is a promising mosquito repellent compound. Under field conditions, DEET is far less effective than SS220-under the same conditions, the former can only provide 2 hours of mosquito repellent protection, while the latter has a protection time of up to 5 hours.
SS220 has a light fruity fragrance, little irritation to the skin, and a low probability of causing allergies; it also has a longer retention time on the skin and will not damage the plastic. However, only one isomer of SS220 is active, which means that the cost of synthesis will be high.
The effect of plant extracts is very limited. Some of the mosquito repellent products known as “pure plant extracts”, some have added mosquito repellent chemicals in a dark rub; others simply do not add mosquito repellent by faith and probability.
Natural Mosquito Repellent Ingredients
There are also some extracts from plants such as mint and geranium, such as peppermint oil, cedar oil, geranium oil, etc., which also have a certain mosquito repellent effect.
Natural mosquito repellent ingredients are the main mosquito repellent ingredients added to various new mosquito repellent products, such as mosquito repellent patches and mosquito repellent rings.
Lemon eucalyptus oil is one of the most effective natural mosquito repellent active substances so far. Its main ingredient, citronellal, is only effective for a short time; another ingredient, citronellal (p-menthol-3,8-diol, PMD), also has strong mosquito repellent activity, evaporation rate is slow, and can provide more lasting protection.
However, the effective protection time of most natural mosquito repellent ingredients generally does not exceed 20 minutes. Common plant-derived products on the market usually combine several natural mosquito repellent ingredients in a certain proportion, and the mosquito repellent effect is slightly extended. It is generally recommended to use it for a short time (within 2 hours) in an environment with few mosquitoes.
Citronellol in lemon eucalyptus oil is a known allergen, and natural mosquito repellent ingredients have potential risks of skin irritation and allergic reactions.
References
“Insect Repellent Use and Safety”. West Nile Virus.
Goodyer L, Schofield S (2018-05-01). “Mosquito repellents for the traveller: does picaridin provide longer protection than DEET?”. Journal of Travel Medicine.