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Catnip lotion as effective as Deet at repelling mosquitoes, study finds (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 5 hours ago by yogthos@lemmy.ml to c/science@lemmy.ml

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[–] LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyz 12 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Most of the "effective as DEET" oils only last a very short amount of time because they evaporate too quickly. Which is why the CDC doesn't recommend them when traveling to locations with high mosquito disease transmission.

Curious if Catnip oil has the same issue, the article doesn't say.

edit: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-52715-y

Effective for 1-4 hours. Definitely better than most essential oil treatments, but not as good as DEET or picaridin.

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 2 points 2 hours ago

So ... we just need to mix catnip/peppermint oil into a less volatile carrier to slow the evaporation, yes?