Website: Center For Disease Control | Memorial day has come and gone, and you know what that means — summertime is (unofficially) here! And with the mid-afternoon storms and intense heat, do you know what else has arrived? Yep, those pesky mosquitoes.
So how can you keep these uninvited guests from crashing your outdoor get-togethers? Here are some tips , ideas and gadgets beyond bug zappers and citronella candles that may help steer those menacing mosquitoes far away from your backyard barbecue.
Prevention Is the Best Medicine
If your property has poor drainage, puddles or wet piles of leaves, you could be creating the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes, which multiply quickly. To prevent these pests from taking up residence in your yard, remove standing water — empty flower pots, buckets, watering cans and other vessels; sweep away puddles; get rid of standing water on your pool cover; keep your gutters dry and clean; and re-slope problem areas so that the water drains properly. Trim any overgrown grasses or foliage on your property so that the mosquitoes have no place to hide.
Repellents are an important tool to assist people in protecting themselves from mosquito-borne diseases.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends the use of products containing active ingredients which have been registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use as repellents applied to skin and clothing. EPA registration of repellent active ingredients indicates the materials have been reviewed and approved for efficacy and human safety when applied according to the instructions on the label.
Repellents for use on skin and clothing:
CDC evaluation of information contained in peer-reviewed scientific literature and data available from EPA has identified several EPA registered products that provide repellent activity sufficient to help people avoid the bites of disease carrying mosquitoes. Products containing these active ingredients typically provide reasonably long-lasting protection:
EPA characterizes the active ingredients DEET and Picaridin as “conventional repellents” and Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, PMD, and IR3535 as “biopesticide repellents”, which are derived from natural materials. For more information on repellent active ingredients see Link
Published data indicate that repellent efficacy and duration of protection vary considerably among products and among mosquito species and are markedly affected by ambient temperature, amount of perspiration, exposure to water, abrasive removal, and other factors.
In general, higher concentrations of active ingredient provide longer duration of protection, regardless of the active ingredient, although concentrations above ~50% do not offer a marked increase in protection time. Products with <10% active ingredient may offer only limited protection, often from 1-2 hours. Products that offer sustained release or controlled release (micro-encapsulated) formulations, even with lower active ingredient concentrations, may provide longer protection times. Regardless of what product you use, if you start to get mosquito bites reapply the repellent according to the label instructions or remove yourself from the area with biting insects if possible.
These recommendations are for domestic use in the United States where EPA-registered products are readily available. See CDC Travelers’ Health website for additional recommendations concerning protection from insects when traveling outside the United States.
Repellents for use on clothing:
Certain products containing permethrin are recommended for use on clothing, shoes, bed nets, and camping gear, and are registered with EPA for this use. Permethrin is highly effective as an insecticide and as a repellent. Permethrin-treated clothing repels and kills ticks, mosquitoes, and other arthropods and retains this effect after repeated laundering. The permethrin insecticide should be reapplied following the label instructions. Some commercial products are available pretreated with permethrin.
EPA recommends the following precautions when using insect repellents:
Note that the label for products containing oil of lemon eucalyptus specifies that they should not to be used on children under the age of three years. Other than those listed above, EPA does not recommend any additional precautions for using registered repellents on children or on pregnant or lactating women,. For additional information regarding the use of repellent on children, please see CDC’s Frequently Asked Questions about Repellent Use.
DEET-based repellents applied according to label instructions may be used along with a separate sunscreen. No data are available at this time regarding the use of other active repellent ingredients in combination with a sunscreen.
See http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/mosquitoes/insectrp.htm for additional information on using EPA-registered repellents.
* Note: This recommendation refers to EPA-registered repellent products containing the active ingredient oil of lemon eucalyptus (or PMD). “Pure” oil of lemon eucalyptus (e.g. essential oil) has not received similar, validated testing for safety and efficacy, is not registered with EPA as an insect repellent, and is not covered by this CDC recommendation.
