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Mosquito and Insect Repellent Overview

Mosquito - Insect Repellent - Buzz Away

Insect repellent use and safety - especially mosquito control - has become an important health concern. Buzz Away addresses those concerns.

The Basics:

The mosquito is attracted to heat, light, and two chemicals we humans produce - carbon dioxide and lactic acid.
There are over 1,700 species of mosquito in North America.
Only the female mosquito bites.
Mosquitoes are born in standing water and rarely travel more than 300 feet from their place of birth.
The male mosquito lives a week, females two.

Make your yard a hard place for mosquitoes to thrive.

The following steps will help minimize the mosquito population in your own yard
Get rid of standing water around your house - mosquitoes might breed there.
Dispose of any unused outside water containers and drill holes in the bottom of containers that are left outdoors. Turn over plastic wading pools or wheelbarrows when not in use, and do not allow water to stagnate in birdbaths.
Clean clogged roof gutters regularly.
Ventilate ornamental pools or stock them with fish.
Clean and chlorinate swimming pools that are not in use.
If you have livestock, thoroughly clean their troughs every month.

Avoid Prime Mosquito Hours

Avoid the outdoors at dusk, in the early evening or at dawn when mosquitoes are heaviest. If you are outdoors during those times, wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants. Bear in mind that mosquitoes can bite through thin cloth.

Choose Your Insect Repellent

There are two classes of insect repellent; natural and chemical. Natural insect repellents use actives such as essential oils, soy oil and neem. Quantum's Buzz Away uses a combination of essential oils. Chemical repellents use DEET (diethyl-meta-toluamide).

Independent testing from the Good Housekeeping Institute and Canada's University of Guelph showed that Buzz Away lasts for up to two hours and is more effective than competitive products.

Natural insect repellents offer important safety benefits and are extremely effective. However, natural products such as Buzz Away must be applied to the skin more frequently than DEET repellents. While most people use DEET-based products without incident, DEET negatives include cautions AGAINST its use on children under 3 years old from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Why? DEET enters the bloodstream through the skin (and can even pierce fabrics) and children seem especially susceptible to DEET related problems. Some have suffered side-effects ranging from rashes and hives to uncontrollable twitching, muscle spasms and even death.

ABC's Prime Time covered several cases including that of Tim Christiansen, 26, who died after using DEET twice on one summer day in 1994; of Elijah Harrison, an 8 year old boy suffering from seizures after his mother sprayed him with a 25% DEET product once a day for two days and on workers in the Everglades National Park who experienced rashes, dizziness and numbness of the lips after regular use of a DEET repellent.

Other Alternatives

Powered machines or devices run on electricity or propane and emit carbon dioxide to attract the bugs then trap and kill them. These range from $200 to $1,300. The best may be the Mosquito Magnet.

Citronella candles work well but should be kept close by - great for use on your picnic table or small patio. Tip - the Buzz Away Citronella Candle lasts 22 hours and is made using a patented soot-free technology.

See Buzz Away product listings