While camping this weekend, I got to mind a very cute 7-month-old baby. She was super social, giggly and sporting a patch that inspired this article. As she laid her head on my shoulder, I noticed a pink patch on the back of her shirt collar. I asked her grammie what it was, and she said that the baby’s mom makes her wear this “mosquito patch” to keep the bugs away. My immediate thought was, does it actually work?
Those around the baby that day kept insisting that it did. That they barely saw a mosquito approach them while holding her. Maybe that’s why she was being passed around from person to person around the lunch table (not just because she was adorable, I guess). What they failed to realize is that it was 2:30 pm, not a prime time for mosquitoes. But I didn’t mention anything until I had all the facts. This called for some research.
The Dreaded Itchy Bumps
No one likes mosquito bites. Often you don’t even realize you have gotten bit until the day after, when you look down to see 12 burning bumps on your ankle. If you feel like you get bit more than others, that may be true. Mosquitos approach people based off different factors like smell, carbon dioxide emission and even blood type. My mom has always claimed her blood is “sweeter” than everyone else’s to explain why she gets bit more than my brother and I when we sit outside. I finally get to debunk that with real facts. Sorry mom!
Jokes aside, mosquitos are the deadliest animal in the world. They spread pathogens and diseases like it’s nothing. Obviously, we want to protect ourselves and our loved ones from these bites but I’m afraid that there’s a lot of marketing ploys in the repellent industry.
Patchy Science
Many different mosquito repelling items are sold these days. I’ve seen bracelets, necklaces, socks, t-shirts, hats and now patches. What are these patches made of? That depends.
Most brands are marketed towards the parents of young children that insist on an all-natural approach. These patches are supposed to contain essential oils that have been used as mosquito repellent “for hundreds of years”. That is the claim of Nat Pat, a company that produces a variety of patches for children ranging from sleep and focus aids to mosquito repellant. While digging through their site to see the science behind their patches, I found a short blurb that says a whole lot of nothing. Their Buzzpatch uses a “smart method” to repel mosquitos. What is this method? They “mask the carbon dioxide we emit when we breathe”. A noble idea but as with most product websites, they fail to mention how.
They do however mention a study that was conducted in 2023. By whom? We don’t know. What did they do? Also, no info. What we do know is that the Buzzpatch was claimed to be “more effective than many other products”. In the study conducted on 18–53-year-olds, the patch provided 43.6 minutes of “effective mosquito protection”. Let’s break this down…
The claim to be better than most products tested in the study is unfounded, it is actually worse than most others. What’s more, their site says, “certain essential oils may help reduce mosquito attraction”. As we have learnt, “may” is just as easily replaced with “may not”.
Next, it seems a bit weird that a product designed for children was mainly tested on adults. The company prides itself on the safety of its natural products, yet it recommends that the patches not be placed directly on the skin. Curious.
As for the efficacy, the “study” claims 43.6 minutes of protection. Yet I found that when you go to add the patches to your cart, they recommend “replacing every 8 hours”. On another page of the site the claim is “up to 7 days”. Someone messed up.
This is typical of these “all natural” patches. Most of them contain essential oils such as citronella or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Citronella oil has been proven to not be effective for reducing mosquito attraction. In a study published to Journal of Insect Science, a citronella candle actually increased mosquito attraction when placed near a human target, as compared to the attraction to the human subject alone. In a more recent study, a patch with oil of lemon eucalyptus was proven to be inefficient for mosquito repulsion. So, for the case of most of these wearable “all natural” mosquito repellents they are more deceptive than protective.
DEET isn’t the Enemy
So, in the end, these all-natural patches seem to be scented medical tape bought by those who are victims of chemophobia. I took time reading the reviews on the Nat Pat website. The most striking being “just love that you don’t have to spray yourself all over with toxic chemicals”. I assume they are referring to DEET, a commonly feared insecticide. This fear is unwarranted considering the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, found no risks of concerns for humans or the environment associated with the use of DEET. As long as it is used correctly, there is no danger. As for the use on children, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends using products containing DEET sparingly on children younger than 2 years old. The real danger lies in turning away from DEET out of fear when it is the most efficient active ingredient in mosquito repellents.
If I haven’t convinced you, that’s okay. It is a good thing Nat Pat also sells bite relief patches…
Angelina Lapalme is a BSc student majoring in Bio-Organic Chemistry at McGill University.
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