rec.arts.movies.production.sound

It seems that you might need a higher concentration of other repellents than
you need of Deet for the same duration of effectiveness.

This is quite interesting -

/hot_topics/?htid=1&httid=1342

some excerpts -

The mode of action of many repellents is unclear, but it is believed that
these products do not repel insects, they simply mask or confuse the
attractive signals that humans emit so that mosquitoes are unable to locate
us. Mosquitoes have specific sensory receptors that provide them with the
information they need to detect a source, orient to it, and travel to it to
sample a blood meal. Host location is determined by many factors including
lactic acid, ammonia, carbon dioxide, octenol, phenols, temperature, and
humidity.(17) For example, DEET interferes with the transmission of spikes
from a lactic acid-excited neuron stimulated by lactic acid from a host.(16)
E. citriodora leaves contain many compounds with pesticide activity
including: aromadendrene, citronellal, citronellic acid, citronellol,
citronellyl acetate, p-cymene, limonene, linalool, alpha-pinene, PMD,
tannin, terpinene, terpinolene, and ursolic acid.(8) PMD has been identified
as the compound that provides the strongest insect protection in this plant.
Of note, E. citriodora also contains citronellol, which is the active
ingredient in oil of citronella products. Oil of citronella, however, is not
obtained from E. citriodora, rather from perennial grasses indigenous to
tropical Asia (C. nardus and C. winterianus).(9) Oil of citronella is
reported to have considerably shorter repellent times than DEET and PMD
alternatives, with complete protection times averaging only about 20 minutes
at concentrations of 10%.(4)

In general, it appears that PMD is roughly half as effective as DEET by
level of concentration; therefore, a 30% PMD product would be about as
effective as a 15% DEET product. Keep in mind, however, that the innate
attractiveness of human subjects to mosquitoes ranges from 30% to 70%;
therefore, different concentrations and intervals of application may be
effective depending on the individual.(20)






"Noah Timan" wrote in message
news: @ ...
> On Sep 23, 11:41 pm, "Mark Perfetti" wrote:
>
>> I think the repellent with deet is best, but the 100% did seem like too
>> much. Have fun and enjoy the food and the people--both are wonderful.
>
> I believe there have been recent studies that have proven that DEET is
> quite harmful to humans (as well as mosquitoes). I'd be interested to
> learn if some of the non-DEET repellents are as effective, though,
> especially in the dense mosquito-laden areas that are more common in
> Asia than in the .
>
> nvt
>