Contents of Mosquito Repellent

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mosquito repellent contents - Image: Michelle Meiklejohn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
mosquito repellent contents - Image: Michelle Meiklejohn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Knowing about the contents of mosquito repellent can help you learn how it works.

Mosquito repellent can help you avoid getting annoyed by these insects, as well as prevent bites that could cause West Nile Virus and make you sick. If you are going outdoors, you should use mosquito repellent. Mosquitoes are the most active during dawn and dusk. Ensure you use repellents at these times. These repellents come in sprays or lotions that you either spray onto your clothing and skin or rub onto your skin. Sprays are the most effective form of mosquito repellent.

Main Ingredient: DEET

N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, better known as DEET, was created synthetically in 1955. DEET is the most common active ingredient in mosquito repellent because it is the most effective. Mosquitoes hone in on us by using the chemical receptors in their antennae to find the lactic acid emitted from our skin. DEET covers that up so the mosquitoes do not detect us. DEET results from a chemical reaction of m-toluic acid, thionyl chloride and diethyl amine.

Alternative Main Ingredient: Picaridin

Picaridin is the alternative to DEET. It is a synthetic ingredient that is derived from pepper. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) claim that Picaridin is just as effective as DEET in mosquito repellents. This is the ideal main active ingredient for those allergic to DEET.

Other Mosquito Repellent Ingredients

Mosquito repellents are most effective when they include several other repellent ingredients. These mosquito repellent contents include peppermint oil, dimethyl phthalate, lemongrass oil and lavender. Dimethyl phthalate is a clear, oily liquid with a sweet fragrance. It is slightly water soluble. Lavender is a natural ingredient in mosquito repellent, derived from the flower. Lemongrass oil is a natural mosquito repellent. It has a pleasant scent that is also used as deodorant. Peppermint oil is used because of its powerful scent.

Solvents in Mosquito Repellent

A solvent is needed in aerosol spray mosquito repellents in order to dilute the active ingredient so it is at the right concentration. Solvents also make sure the contents are mixed appropriately, and that the product can last some time in storage. The solvents used in mosquito repellents are either ethanol or propanol, which are both organic alcohols.

Propellants in Mosquito Repellent

Propellants are the ingredients that allow pressure to build inside the can so the product can be forced out and sprayed. Propellants used in mosquito repellent are liquified hydrocarbon gases such as hydrofluorocarbons, propane, butane, dimethyl ether or isobutane.

If you have had allergic reactions to mosquito repellent try one with Picardin instead of DEET. Now that you understand the contents of bug sprays you can print this out to post.

Resources:

Environment, Health and Safety Online, "Mosquito Repellent Information: What Is The Safest and Most Effective Repellent?" (accessed December 21, 2010)

How Products Are Made, "Mosquito Repellent" (accessed December 21, 2010)

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Nicky LaMarco - Nicky LaMarco writes articles, books and blogs. She's been published in a variety of media and has been writing since 2001.

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Jul 28, 2011 1:40 AM
Guest :
One thing that I find ironic is only female mosquitoes bite humans but the male is the one that buzzes to announce he is around so guess who gets smacked the most often, yep the dumb MALE! Meanwhile the female gets what she wants and escapes to live another day It would appear that nature protects the female in every species at the expense of the males thus showing that males are more expendable than females. Mother nature made the male mosquitoes to buzz so that the female can get a meal even if the male gets killed to enable her to do so. When we realize the male does not bite, it has no reason to be buzzing around people other than to distract them so the female can bite.

There are many other species that the males risk death so that the females can survive a much longer time. The Red back spider for one. The male lives for about 3 months while the female lives for 3 years, 12 times as long. The male mates ONE time as mating is always fatal for the male but the female mates many times, and each time she does, a male dies.

It seems like mosquitoes are like every other species. The female is the smarter one and the males are usually the dumber ones so the female in all things are superior and that includes humans too. It is usually the males that do the dumb things to get themselves killed. Just check the Darwin Award website, they are almost always males who get them.

Now as far as pesticides, would it not be possible to create one that would lure only the males to their deaths? There is a chemical that when given to bedbugs will cause the males to stab each other with their penises and since they are not as strong as the females, it results in the males killing each other. Others are a sexual extract which will lure the males like a moth to light so that only the males are killed so from this, we know it is far easier to kill males than it is to kill females in the insect world. We also know that if we could kill all the males in any species, the whole species would vanish. One conclusion I make from all of this even though I am a male, is that the female is far superior to the males in every species and this actually includes humans as all evidence shows women are by far superior to human males too
Aug 20, 2011 11:30 PM
Guest :
I like the comment made here about the male mosquito buzzing and thus getting killed to let the female feed. There are a lot of species where the male dies so the female can procreate.

On a side note, have you noticed that almost all the "road kill" are males? Even in humans, almost all of the Darwin Award winners are male. I think about 90% of those who kill themself doing stupid things have one thing in common, they are male. I have to agree with the comment about women being the superior sex. It is nice to see another male admit it but it is not surprising to me. I use to think males were superior until my husband (boy friend at that time) showed me that women were the superior sex.

My husband gave me a copy of "The Natural Superiority of Women" too. One problem is that the last update of this book was in 1999 and since than a lot more has been learned showing women to be even more superior to males than it was thought at that time.

Recently there have been several news items regarding this. Some say males will disappear totally. Others say we will still be around but not really needed. Before machines were invented, males were needed for their muscles for physical work. Now that machines can do all of that, males are not needed as much as we once were.

Now there is a book that can fill in that 21 year gap.

"Man Down" by Dan Abrams

Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt That Women Are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies, World Leaders, Beer Tasters, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else

Someone said that now that women are getting an equal chance, women are surpassing males in almost every area. This is what Abrams said is the reason for this book.

"There’s a lot more evidence now. A lot of the studies from the book are from the last three years. It’s only been in the last twenty or so years, that women have been on a relatively even playing field in terms of work to do many of these studies. We weren’t able to make fair comparisons before, because women were a fraction of the working world. Now we’re see women taking over the majority in many professions. But only recently has there been enough time to look back to compare men versus women and only recently has there been real interest."

Abrams said a vast majority of lead researchers are male, but the broad trend trackers are women. so it may be that males are beginning to wake up and smell the roses that male superiority is history. Actually, males never were superior as women have always been superior to males.

Women have a better sense of smell, taste, and new research is suggesting the fact that women tend to endure pain more makes them more immune to it. It’s the old aphorism, “That which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” Women survive injury better than males do and 77% of those who die in traffic accidents are male. Women have 34 more nerve fibers per square centimeter of facial skin, while men have an average of 17. This brings up sexual pleasure. Women have hundreds of times more nerve endings in their vagina than males have in their penis and as a result a male's orgasm pales to a woman's. A woman feels it in all of her body for several moments and it can be repeated many times in a short time. A male's orgasm consists of a few throbs of his prick and it is over in usually much less than a minute. He usually cannot have another one for several hours. Someone said that it is like Niagara Falls for women, a dripping faucet (no pun intended) for males.

Women live an average of five to eight years longer than males. The reasons for this are both genetic and behavior-based. First of all, women have stronger immune systems, again due to estrogen which aids the fight against disease-inducing enzymes. But women are also less likely to engage in risky behavior. Almost all of the Darwin Award winners are male. Usually 9 or more males kill themselves for each woman who does to get this award.

Women make better doctors. While forty percent of doctors are women, 80 percent of those under investigation for medical misconduct or incompetence are male. In the U.S., there were similar findings. Male physicians were twice as likely to be sued as women


He does list things males are better at: Males are better at parking, they’re better dieters, they have better distance vision, and they read maps better. Males do have larger muscles, so they tend to be better at some sports but women far excel males in endurance sports.

A woman's body can more efficiently process oxygen. When it comes to ultra-marathons—say, a 135 mile race without sleep—women can beat men. Remember the first male that ran a marathon died and when we read about someone dying while playing sports or running a race, it is far more likely it will be a male.

When looking at sex change operations, we will notice that a few hundred males want to become women for every woman who wants to become a male. Still these males would not become members of the superior gender as their DNA would still be male thus keeping them inferior to women.

Even in combat, women are better sharp shooters and if the battle of the sexes every turned into a real war, we males would not have a chance. All the males would all be dead while 3/4 or more women remained alive and unharmed.

It is a given that males need women far more than women need males but lets count our lucky stars that most women still want us around.

With Montagu's book, my husband use to think women had a 80 out of 100 advantage over males. With his last update in 1999 he raised that to 85 to 100. Now with this new book, it looks like women have a 95 to 100 advantage over males and if it keeps up since women have grown so much in the last 20 to 30 years, soon they will have total advantage over anyone that has the misfortune of being born with testicles. My husband also said from what he sees around him, he is glad women are the SUPERIOR gender and MALES are the inferior one.
Aug 21, 2011 1:01 AM
Guest :
I have to agree with the comment about women being the superior sex. It is nice to see a male admit it but it is not surprising to me. I use to think males were superior until my husband (boy friend at that time) showed me that women were the superior sex.

He gave me a book called "The Natural Superiority of Women" It shows solid evidence that women are the superior gender. It starts by showing that every human starts out female but it goes on to say that at one certain stage of development something "goes horribly wrong" and some of us (myself included) end up to be male. In short, we males are a mutation of a female. (Seldom is a mutation good)

One problem is that the last update of this book was in 1999 and since than a lot more has been learned showing women to be even more superior to males than it was thought at that time.

Recently there have been several news items regarding this. Some say males will disappear totally. Others say we will still be around but not really needed. Before machines were invented, males were needed for their muscles for physical work. Now that machines can do all of that, males are not needed as much as we once were.

Now there is a book that can fill in that 21 year gap.

"Man Down" by Dan Abrams

Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt That Women Are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies, World Leaders, Beer Tasters, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else

Someone said that now that women are getting an equal chance, women are surpassing males in almost every area. This is what Abrams said is the reason for this book.

"There’s a lot more evidence now. A lot of the studies from the book are from the last three years. It’s only been in the last twenty or so years, that women have been on a relatively even playing field in terms of work to do many of these studies. We weren’t able to make fair comparisons before, because women were a fraction of the working world. Now we’re see women taking over the majority in many professions. But only recently has there been enough time to look back to compare men versus women and only recently has there been real interest."

Abrams said a vast majority of lead researchers are male, but the broad trend trackers are women. so it may be that males are beginning to wake up and smell the roses that male superiority is history. Actually, males never were superior as women have always been superior to males.

Women have a better sense of smell, taste, and new research is suggesting the fact that women tend to endure pain more makes them more immune to it. It’s the old aphorism, “That which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” Women survive injury better than males do and 77% of those who die in traffic accidents are male. Women have 34 more nerve fibers per square centimeter of facial skin, while men have an average of 17. This brings up sexual pleasure. Women have hundreds of times more nerve endings in their vagina than males have in their penis and as a result a male's orgasm pales to a woman's. A woman feels it in all of her body for several moments and it can be repeated many times in a short time. A male's orgasm consists of a few throbs of his prick and it is over in usually much less than a minute. He usually cannot have another one for several hours. Someone said that it is like Niagara Falls for women, a dripping faucet (no pun intended) for males.

Women live an average of five to eight years longer than males. The reasons for this are both genetic and behavior-based. First of all, women have stronger immune systems, again due to estrogen which aids the fight against disease-inducing enzymes. But women are also less likely to engage in risky behavior. Almost all of the Darwin Award winners are male. Usually 9 or more males kill themselves for each woman who does to get this award.

Women make better doctors. While forty percent of doctors are women, 80 percent of those under investigation for medical misconduct or incompetence are male. In the U.S., there were similar findings. Male physicians were twice as likely to be sued as women


He does list things males are better at: Males are better at parking, they’re better dieters, they have better distance vision, and they read maps better. Males do have larger muscles, so they tend to be better at some sports but women far excel males in endurance sports.

A woman's body can more efficiently process oxygen. When it comes to ultra-marathons—say, a 135 mile race without sleep—women can beat men. Remember the first male that ran a marathon died and when we read about someone dying while playing sports or running a race, it is far more likely it will be a male.

When looking at sex change operations, we will notice that a few hundred males want to become women for every woman who wants to become a male. Still these males would not become members of the superior gender as their DNA would still be male thus keeping them inferior to women.

Even in combat, women are better sharp shooters and if the battle of the sexes every turned into a real war, we males would not have a chance. All the males would all be dead while 3/4 or more women remained alive and unharmed.

It is a given that males need women far more than women need males but lets count our lucky stars that most women still want us around.

With Montagu's book, my husband use to think women had a 80 out of 100 advantage over males. With his last update in 1999 he raised that to 85 to 100. Now with this new book, it looks like women have a 95 to 100 advantage over males and if it keeps up since women have grown so much in the last 20 to 30 years, soon they will have total advantage over anyone that has the misfortune of being born with testicles. My husband also said from what he sees around him, he is glad women are the SUPERIOR gender and MALES are the inferior one.
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