Sep. 12, 2009 After searching for more than 50 years, scientists
finally have discovered a number of new mosquito repellents that
beat DEET, the gold standard for warding off those pesky,
sometimes disease-carrying insects. The stuff seems like a dream
come true. It makes mosquitoes buzz off three times longer than
DEET, the active ingredient in many of today's bug repellents.
It does not have the unpleasant odor of DEET. And it does not
cause DEET's sticky-skin sensation. But there's a fly in the
ointment: The odds may be stacked against any of the new
repellents finding a place on store shelves this year or next —
or ever. Ulrich Bernier, Ph.D., lead researcher for the
repellent study, said the costly, time-consuming pre-market
testing and approval process is a hurdle that will delay
availability of the repellents, which were discovered last year.
The results of his team's work were presented at the 238th
National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) by Maia
Tsikoli, Ph.D., a post-doctoral researc