The world needs plant-based insect repellents: Sustainable rationale and customer preferences
From the ancient times, people were using mainly plant-based products for various purposes especially for curing diseases, cleaning purposes and keeping pests away. Chemicals produced by plants are natural insect repellents and have been used to repel insects since olden times.
The most common form of usage of plants to keep the insects away is to hang the fresh or dried plants in the doors, windows to keep insects especially mosquitoes away. In addition, the plants were dried and made as incense sticks which was burnt, homemade coils were made with dried plant material to repel the insects. This practice is very common especially in tropical countries in Africa and Asia. This way of repelling insects is still being practiced in many rural areas and villages in these countries. The main reason for this practice is that locally sourced or grown plants were used because they were known to have insect or pests repelling properties according to ethnobotanical knowledge. This made them to be cost effective and they can be discarded just like any food waste making them environmentally safe. The practices followed in rural areas are now being recognized to a large extent after the ill effects caused by synthetic insect repellents especially after long-term use. In this article referring to the preliminary study, we describe how potential Finnish and Indian customers like biological, mainly herbal, insect repellents.
Illnesses caused by insects
According to a report by Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Vector-borne diseases around the world are increasing (more than 700,000 deaths annually). Especially Borrelia, TBE, Malaria and Dengue in Asian countries, Lyme and West Nile Virus in American and European regions have become a major concern. All these chronic infections are transmitted mostly by ticks and mosquitoes (Javed, 2019).
People often use insect repellents to protect themselves from mosquitoes and ticks. Repellents come in various forms as such as sprays, creams, vaporizers, coils etc. Based on the chemical composition and active ingredients used in ticks and mosquito repellents, the insect repellent is divided into natural and synthetic products. Most insect repellent products in the market are synthetic (around 85%), of which the majority of the synthetic products are DEET-based products, which are available in different concentrations. Prolonged use of DEET-based repellents is very harmful both to the environment and the human beings, especially infants and children. Stringent WHO guidelines and other regulations direct researchers to innovate using traditional plant-based repellents.
Harmful effects caused by synthetic insect repellents
The various studies showed that the repellents containing synthetic or man-made active ingredients cause various ill effects especially related to breathing and absorption though skin causing hormonal imbalances during prolonged use. Also, they are not safe to be disposed as such to the environment and affect the soil and aquatic life. Synthetic repellents have caused problems such as (1) resistance to repellents, especially by mosquito species, (2) toxic residues on environment like soil & water (3) side effects on health, especially hormonal imbalance on long-term use (4) affects non target living beings in nature (Marta Ferreira Maia, 2011).
Still repellents are used at large to protect oneself especially in tropical countries, during rainy spring season and in other countries especially during spring, light summer and autumn when mosquitoes and other insects like ticks are highly active. Using efficient repellents is one of the best methods to keep these vectors or insects away and thus preventing vector borne diseases like malaria, dengue, Encephalitis, Lyme’s disease etc. However, due to the unwanted health effects caused by synthetic repellents, using plant based or nature-based repellents are being developed.
Plant-based insect repellents and their benefits
Mostly essential oils plant-based repellents like citronella oil, eucalyptus, peppermint oil, cat nip oils are the most used ingredients due to their strong scent that keeps the insects away. Nevertheless, at the same time as they are oils, they are highly volatile and evaporate easily thus not providing efficient repellent activity especially for longer duration (Javed, 2019). The amount of essential oils if exceeded the recommended level in plant-oil- based repellents could be harmful as high levels are also not beneficial to health. Due to these reasons, synthetic repellents are still used at large especially during outdoor activities. Although plant-based repellents occupy a small niche in the world of synthetic repellents, increasing environmental concerns have led to the use of sustainable, eco-friendly, and nontoxic alternatives.
The use of botanicals based repellents has many advantages, due to their (1) naturally occurring properties, (2) high specificity for target insects, (3) little or no adverse effect on beneficial insects, (4) slow or less frequent development of insect resistance, (5) having no unknown environmental hazards (6) health friendly for long-term use. Nowadays due to advancement in research and technology the compound(s) that is responsible for the repellent activity in the oils is either extracted from plants or synthesized to be made into efficient insect repellents. When we look at the sustainable production and use of insect repellents especially in tropical countries, where the benefits to public health of repellents are particularly important, plant-based insect repellents may offer more cosmetic appeal, convenience, or cost savings. Most of the plant-based oils or active compounds can be locally sourced and produced in tropical countries.
Customer demands for insect repellents
Many people due to various reasons do not favor insect repellents, mainly conventional insect repellents. They do not like to use repellents for long term due to the smell, feel, and they forget to reapply due to forgetfulness and safety issues. Nevertheless, to protect people from mosquito and tick bites, we must create products they like and will use. Customers demand safe, pleasant, and environmentally sustainable means of protection against insect bites, and the field of plant-based repellents is heading in that direction. Many synthetic-based repellents are designed to kill rather than repel pests, and they can be harmful to children, pets, and the soil. Environmentally friendly, organic insect control methods are less harmful to humans, animals, and aquatic life. Commercial insect repellents often contain DEET, a chemical that can result in unpleasant side effects, such as rashes, swelling, and redness. Pets may also be at risk from DEET, despite its effectiveness for keeping bugs away.
When looking at customer preferences, especially based on our survey conducted for the study and on other studies, it is quite clear that customers prefer repellents that are safe and eco-friendly with active ingredient that is harmless for both personal use and to the environment. The survey showed that the customers living in Finland prefer to use sprays as they are convenient and repellent sprays are easy to make with plant based active ingredients. However, the consumers living in India preferred to use vaporizer as they use it for the whole room to be free from mosquitoes and most of the vaporizers are DEET based ones. Although plant-based repellents are often not as effective as DEET, it is possible that this will change in the future.
80 % of Finnish users wanted protection against both mosquitoes and ticks. When looking at the Indian respondents only 49 % wanted protection against both as ticks are not a big problem in many Asian countries. But, about 50 % wanted protection against mosquitoes only as they are the major vector borne diseases in India (Gaurav Kumar, 2020).
Conclusions
According to BBC Research market report, the global market for insect repellents should reach €4900 million by 2023 from €3400 million in 2018 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5% for the period of 2018-2023. The portion of natural repellents is 17%. Grand View Research (Grandviewresearch, 2019) reported similar estimations, however, they predicted that the market would expand at a CARG of 7.5% during the 2019-2025. According to the Transparency Market research report (Transparency Market research, 2016) the European market for insect repellents is estimated to reach a value of €1.55bn by the end of 2023.
Researchers are studying plants to determine whether they have insect-repelling properties as consumer interest in plant-based products increases. Botanical formulas, when used correctly, provide an alternative to synthetic repellents. These plant-based ingredients are nowadays being developed as insect repellents for the same reasons that they are effective and as found in nature they are also degraded easily and do not affect the soil or aquatic life. Recent years have seen a significant step forward in the scientific evaluation and development of plant-based repellents, and new methods for dispensing plant-based volatiles are enabling longer duration of repellency and consequent increase in efficacy. Many studies have been conducted in recent years on alternatives to synthetic formulas based on plants, which may make more sense for consumers who suffer from chemical sensitivities or are allergic to synthetics. Customer centric research and market studies demonstrate that there is a demand for safe, pleasant, eco-friendly repellents, and that plant-based and natural repellents are growing in popularity.
Correspondence:
Preethy Paul, PhD (Animal Science), MBA (Turku University of Applied Sciences)
Åbo Academi University ~ Anison Therapeutics (https://anisontherapeutics.com/)
preethy.paul@anisontherapeutics.com
References:
Gaurav Kumar, V. P. (2020). Applicability of attractive toxic sugar baits as a mosquito vector control tool in the context of India: a review. Pest Management Science, 2626-2634.
Javed, M. (January 2019). BCC Research. bccresearch.com: https://www.bccresearch.com/market-research/chemicals/insect-repellent-the-global-market.html
Marta Ferreira Maia, S. J. (2011). Plant-based insect repellents: a review of their efficacy, development and testing. Malar J.
Grandviewresearch. (July 2019). https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/insect-repellent-market: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/insect-repellent-market
Tracy Katz, J. H. (2008). Insect repellents: historical perspectives and new developments. J Am Acad Dermatol, 865-871.
Transparency Market research. (2016). Insect Repellent Market – Europe Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2015 – 2023: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/europe-insect-repellent-market.html