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Author
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Topic: Cinnamon Oil Kills Mosquito Larvae
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Gia
Knowflake Posts: 492
From: California
Registered: May 2004
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posted July 24, 2004 02:25 PM
 
I found this on another site and thought you guys might like to read it.Cinnamon Oil Kills
Mosquito Larvae
By Daniel DeNoon
Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
WebMD.com
7-22-4 Cinnamon oil is an environmentally friendly way to kill mosquito hatchlings, a Taiwanese study shows.
It might even make bug repelling better smelling -- although whether cinnamon oil keeps adult mosquitoes from biting has yet to be tested.
The findings, from Sen-Sung Cheng, a natural products chemist at National Taiwan University, and colleagues, appear in the July 14 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Current mosquito-control efforts often rely on organophosphate insecticides. Use of these agents has raised health and environmental concerns, Cheng and colleagues note, so they looked for a different approach. They noted that cinnamon leaf oils have been shown to inhibit bacteria, termites, mites, mildew, and fungi.
Cheng's team derived various oils from the leaves of a type of cinnamon tree that grows in Taiwan. They tested the oils -- and their main ingredients -- against the larvae of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. This is one of the mosquito species spreading dengue fever -- a viral illness transmitted to humans by mosquitoes during the feeding process.
They found that one chemical in the oil, cinnamaldehyde, worked the best. At less than 50 parts per million, it killed half the mosquito larvae. That's better than DEET, currently the best-known mosquito repellent which is applied on the skin and repels insects rather than kills them.
"We think that cinnamon oil might also affect adult mosquitoes by acting as a repellent," Cheng says in a news release.
Cheng says his team plans to test this theory.
Cinnamon oil -- which has not been tested for use as bug repellent -- is sold in small bottles as an aromatherapy.
According to the National Toxicology program, cinnamaldehyde is used in foods, beverages, medical products, perfumes, cosmetics, soaps, detergents, creams, and lotions. It's also been used as an animal repellent, as an insect attractant, and as an antifungal agent. It may have toxic effects at high concentrations.
- SOURCES: Cheng, S.-S. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, July 14, 2004; vol 52: pp 4395-4400. News release, American Chemical Society.
© 2004 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved. http://my.webmd.com/content/article/90/100845.htm IP: Logged |
silverbells
Knowflake Posts: 1276
From: maryland
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted August 28, 2004 09:20 PM
Hey Gia, I was wondering about this the other day because the mosquitos have been ridiculous and I read a while ago about the natural repellant for ants and I was sure that there was a natural repellant for mosquitos just waiting to be recognised. Thanks for the information.------------------
Get some love in your groove, just get hip to forgive... - Michael Franks IP: Logged |
Sheaa Olein
Knowflake Posts: 577
From: Another timezone
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted August 28, 2004 09:30 PM
Very cool Gia, thanks. I'll be dousing myself in that then, mixed with musk & vanilla, I'll be a veritable walking pot-pourri  IP: Logged |
silverbells
Knowflake Posts: 1276
From: maryland
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted August 28, 2004 09:50 PM
Well Good Lord, I'm glad that I read your other post on Cinnamon oil and saw that it was a powerful skin irritant. I might have been rubbing that on myself by the handful. What are the conditions with which problems could occur if it is used and what are the problems that could occur, could you tell me.------------------
Get some love in your groove, just get hip to forgive... - Michael Franks IP: Logged |
Sheaa Olein
Knowflake Posts: 577
From: Another timezone
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted August 28, 2004 09:58 PM
Oh? Missed that one, thanks silverbells, my skin can be sensitive. Will look for it now  IP: Logged |
Gia
Knowflake Posts: 492
From: California
Registered: May 2004
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posted August 29, 2004 09:42 PM
I posted those at the same time because I was really worried about you all rushing out to buy it and then smearing all over. It seems to be fine when you consume it, or when it is inhaled, but on skin neat it can be a primary irritant and sensitser. When concentrated it can eczemateous. You can diffuse it to keep insects at bay like citronella or put some drops in stagnant water perhaps. Please don't feed it to your gold fish. A friend of mine did just that in her pond.Sheaa read the post that went with it sweetie. Gia IP: Logged | |
Lindaland
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