Essential oils as tick repellents on clothing

Abstract

Essential oils show promise as natural alternatives to synthetic tick repellents, but few studies have investigated their repellent efficacy in vivo or under field conditions. Here, blanket-drags and standardised walks were employed to evaluate tick acquisition by 1 m 2 cotton blankets or cotton trousers, respectively, in woodland edge habitats of known high tick abundance. Blankets and trousers had been treated with one of 5% oregano, rosemary, spearmint or thyme oils, 20% DEET (N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) (positive control) or ethanol excipient-only (negative control). The number of ticks present on the blankets or trousers differed significantly between treatments: spearmint oil treatments resulted in significantly fewer ticks than the negative controls for both blankets and trousers and significantly fewer ticks were present on the oregano oil treated blankets. For ticks that did attach to the trousers, the rate of drop off within 3 min was significantly higher for trousers treated with spearmint oil or thyme oil than ethanol, oregano oil and rosemary oil. No reduction in repellence was detected over a 24 h period between treatment and testing. The results suggest that 5% oregano and spearmint oils exhibit potential as natural clothing repellents, with an effective equivalence to 20% DEET.

Three molecules found in rosemary or nutmeg essential oils repel ticks (Dermacentor variabilis) more effectively than DEET in a no‐human assay

“…Despite not finding a molecule that was a significant increase over all the current active ingredients, our study only explored two oils and suggests that there may be repellents that already exist in nature that would be even more effective than those currently on the market. Other researchers also have found essential oils can show repellent efficacy equal to or greater than DEET 23 . By looking at the compounds from the essential oils, this research can facilitate the identification and use of an active ingredient that is more reliable in consistency than essential oils, which have to be harvested and can vary in comparison from batch to batch.…”

“…Other researchers also have found essential oils can show repellent efficacy equal to or greater than DEET. 23 By looking at the compounds from the essential oils, this research can facilitate the identification and use of an active ingredient that is more reliable in consistency than essential oils, which have to be harvested and can vary in comparison from batch to batch.…”

Acaricidal and Repellent Effects of Essential Oils against Ticks: A Review

“…Many plants and/or their essential oils have a repellent effect against arthropods [122,126,152,153].…”

“…The majority of synthetic molecules with repellent effects pose problems for their safety, efficacy, and environmental impacts [153][154][155][156][157][158]. Therefore, the use of friendly and biodegradable natural acaricides have attracted the attention of researchers [159].…”

Plant-Derived Natural Compounds for Tick Pest Control in Livestock and Wildlife: Pragmatism or Utopia?

“…A promising blend of essential oils is Cinnamomum verum (cinnamon), Cuminum cyminum (cumin), and Pimenta diocia (allspice), which achieved acaricidal activity from 90% to 100% [ 165 ]. Essential oils can also be used as repellents on clothing and on companion animals for tick species such as I. ricinus [ 168 , 169 ], highlighting the potential of plant-derived compounds to be used in multiple ways to aid in the control of ticks of veterinary and public health importance.…”