Coconut Oil: A Potent, Safe Insect Repellent

Coconut oil is a more potent insect repellent than DEET, an active ingredient found in most commercially available insect repellent, a study says.

Insect bites can not only make one uncomfortable. Some insects, especially mosquitoes, ticks, and biting flies, can transmit deadly diseases such as Lyme diseases, Zika virus, dengue, and other illnesses.

READ: Coconut Oil: Is it Also Good for Dogs?

Alarming Effects of DEET

The study was prompted by concerns raised on the adverse impact of DEET on health. DEET or N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, the active ingredients of insect repellants, are chemicals initially used by the military during World War II.

It is considered the gold standard of insect repellents, DEET has been widely used as an insect repellent for more than six decades.

However, it has been associated with health issues, especially for infants and pregnant women, and reports of rashes for those sensitive to it.

Ingestion of DEET has also been associated with disorientation and seizures, numbing. Inhalation and contact of DEET on eyes and mouth can cause eye irritation and numbing of lips. Experts recommend that products with more than 30 percent DEET should be avoided, a 2015 Consumer's Report indicated.

However, Theresa Panetta of Consumer Report admits that there are minimal alternative options to DEET. She said that natural and herbal repellents were not very effective at all when they tested it. Zhu noted that many natural repellents lose their effects quickly on insects.

Coconut Oil as Repellents

Essential oils from plants have been used to ward off insects for at least two millennia in China, Egypt, and India. Many plant-derived oils as insect repellent have been documented over the years, but it has limited residual activity.

However, Coconut oil compounds from coconut oil showed different results from other natural repellents, the study of Zhu and his team revealed.

The coconut oil compounds outperformed DEET in repelling stable flies. It had an effective rate of more than 95 percent, while DEET had an effectivity rate of 50 percent.

Coconut oil compounds were found to repel biting flies and bed bugs for two weeks. It can also ward off ticks for at least one week. Applying a high concentration of virgin coconut oil on the skin can repel mosquitoes and fend off fatal mosquito bites. DEET, on the other hard repelled bed bugs and ticks for three days only.

The study also revealed that several fatty acids in coconut oil are more effective in repelling insects such as mosquitos, ticks, bed bugs, and biting flies than DEET.

However, the study notes that a greater concentration of coconut oil acids is necessary to repel mosquito compared with DEET effectively.

Coconut Oil Insect Repellents and Their Role in Disease Prevention

Study authors say that these findings may result in coconut oil-based insect repellants' development to curb diseases transmitted by mosquitoes.

Another advantage of coconut oil is that the fatty acids that it contains are considered non-toxic and are widely used in the food and cosmetic industries.

The researchers also prepared an aqueous starch-based formulation with coconut fatty acids for cattle. They discovered that the said formulation protected cattle from biting flies for up to 96 hours in summer. The study team notes as the "longest protection provided by a natural repellent product."

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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