New Natural Mosquito Repellent that Actually Smells Good!

Chemical mosquito repellents are dangerous; natural mosquito repellents smell bad. Right? Maybe not anymore. Although it may be too late for this summer, new research may have found a herbal mosquito repellent that works, is safe and smells sweet! . . .

Some Native American people have traditionally used sweetgrass to ward off mosquitoes. So USDA researchers, in collaboration with the University of Mississippi and Guelph University, set out to put it to the test.

They compared Sweetgrass essential oil to DEET and found that the sweetgrass not only perfomed really well but matched the DEET at repelling mosquitoes.

The researchers then looked at what components of the traditional herb were chasing away the mosquitoes and located the power in two phytochemicals: coumarin and phytol.

The great thing about sweetgrass is that, while the smell of some mosquito repellents repels people too, the sweetgrass works as well as DEET while smelling sweet. The researchers still have to do more testing to see if sweetgrass, when applied, lasts as long as DEET.

The research was presented at the 250th American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition (2015).