Some repellents 'are useless'
2005-09-07 13:54
London - Some mosquito repellents using electronic buzzers were splatted by a British consumer magazine study published on Tuesday, which branded them a "shocking waste of money".
The devices did not stop mosquitoes biting humans during tests carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on behalf of consumer magazine Holiday Which?.
The buzzers emit high-frequency sounds meant to replicate the wing beats of a male mosquito and scare off females.
But a device called the Prince Lionheart Mosquito Repeller - supposed to clip on to babies' cots - proved "useless" in tests against two mosquito species.
Holiday Which? editor Lorna Cowan said some mosquito repellents gave users total protection.
"We think others, such as the buzzers we tried, were a shocking waste of money, didn't offer any protection at all and offer nothing but a false sense of security. They should be removed from sale," she said.
The magazine said the best repellents for outdoor use contain at least 30% diethyl tolumide, known as DEET.
Repellents containing plant oils were less effective than their synthetic counterparts, the study found.
The tests also found that the Moziban electronic buzzer did not repel anopheles mosquitoes - the type which bites humans.
Nick Sladek, managing director of Godirect International UK which imports Moziban, said the device was extremely effective and called the survey a "scam".
Around 2 000 people per year enter Britain with malaria, the tropical disease mosquitoes pass to humans.
- AFP