Repellents vs. Toxicants as Clothing Treatments for Protection from Mosquitoes and Other Biting Flies12

Abstract

Two repellents, deet and M-1960 (military clothing mixture), and a toxicant, resmethrin, were compared on military fatigue clothing in laboratory and field studies with mosquitoes and other biting flies to determine their effectiveness in protecting the exposed, untreated hands and faces of test subjects. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that resmethrin-treated clothing gave significantly greater protection from bites on exposed skin than repellent-treated clothing. When the repellents were worn in combination with clothing treated with permethrin, protection time was significantly longer than protection time obtained when untreated uniforms or uniforms treated with M-1960 were worn.