The annoyance of insects is not only due to their noise, but also to the presence of diseases in your body. What’s more, their bites can be the point of transmission of dengue, malaria, West Nile virus and Zika virus, among other diseases. Faced with this risk, the use of repellent has become very common, even if you do not visit areas affected by the transmitters of these diseases. However, the lack of knowledge about the chemicals employees in the formulation of the product can do sound the alarm.

Mosquito repellents are made for prevent the bite of these, but does not kill them. Its effectiveness is due to the active ingredients that they contain. The most common are: Picaridin (Icaridin) and IR3535, these synthetic compounds are considered the safer on the market, whose mechanism of action works by confusing the mosquito’s olfactory receptors, making it more difficult for them to bite the victim. These emerged as an alternative to DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide), which is more effective but less safe for people.

In addition, essential oils such as eucalyptus, citronella, peppermint oil and lavender oil are on the list of ingredients in mosquito repellent products, all of which are used as natural repellentssince it is believed that its smell is repulsive to flying insects. Studies have shown that DEET, Picaridin and the rest of the components mentioned provide a high degree of safety in the concentrations in which they are sold, so they are not harmful to health.

Even in childrenespecially vulnerable to mosquito bites, is considered sure the use of repellent until twice a day. Adverse effects are generally rare and limited to individual allergic reactions. In addition, in cases of sensitive skin such as dermatitis, it is recommended to consult a specialist. Of course, consuming these products does pose a risk to the person performing the action, since these chemicals are considered slightly toxic in case of accidental ingestion.