Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WASHINGTON, Jun 13, 2003 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Soybean oil is recommended to repel the threat of mosquitoes, a malaria researcher said Friday.
Dr. David Sullivan, malaria researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health in Baltimore, Md., told the Washington Times that soy oil is considered the most useful of plant-based mosquito repellents.
Mosquitoes have grown from being annoying to "slightly scary," the newspaper reported, as the Washington metropolitan area prepares once more to combat West Nile virus, an illness carried by mosquitoes.
Soy oil is "the most effective of the natural repellents," according to the Washington Times and Dr. Sullivan, who cited a recent New England Journal of Medicine article on soy's effects.
A product containing 2 percent soy oil lasts about three hours, the newspaper said. Other natural repellents in addition to soy oil are cedar oil, peppermint oil, lemon grass oil, and citronella.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
