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■Bio-mathematics, Statistics and Nano-Technologies: Mosquito Control Strategies

textiles/clothing. However, there seems to be no international standard method for eval-

uating such mosquito repellent treated textile products, although there are some country-

specific publicized methods. Standardization of commercial textile products by an official

test method is, therefore, indispensable for authentic and objective evaluation of these prod-

ucts. In this chapter, repellents, treated methods, several bioassay methods in the laboratory

and field for anti-mosquito textiles are briefly reviewed and advisable standard methods are

proposed.

16.2

ACTIVE INGREDIENT

Repellents may be used to treat a variety of fabrics, materials, and textiles, includ-

ing the materials for making bed nets, uniform, table clothing, loose jackets, curtains, and

other clothing items. The most successful insecticide & repellent treated textiles are LLIN

and the uniforms treated by permethrin, DEET, and picaridin. Since 1942, the Florida

based Agricultural Research Services, Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary

Entomology (U.S. Department of Agriculture 1967), tested notable repellents and in-

secticides on clothing/textiles such as Benzyl benzoate, 2-Butyl-2-ethyl-1,3-propanediol,

Cedar oil and derivatives, DEET, Dibutyl phthalate, Dimethyl phthalate, Naphthalene, p-

Dichlorobenzene, picaridin, and permethrin (Rutledge et al. 2015). Permethrin, a broad

spectrum and synthetic pyrethroid insecticide was registered by the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) in 1990 as a repellent on clothing by the military (Frances 2015).

The repellents used, formulation, method of application, type of materials, and amount of

repellent absorbed per unit area of textile should be reported.

16.3

TREATED METHOD

Insect repellent applications to textiles/fabric include: hand application by applying a

liquid repellent into a gloved hand and rubbing the repellent material on clothing; impreg-

nated by using solution to impregnated clothing; barrier application by applying the liquid

material only to the openings of clothing by daubing;, with a sprayer or by drawing the

mouth of the bottle along the clothing to apply a thin layer; application to clothing by the

spray method; or dust for solid repellent application (McCain and Leach 2006). Factory

pretreatment of uniforms and clothing in the United States (U.S.) is limited to permethrin,

however, consumers may treat clothing to repel mosquitos on their own using over-the-

counter DEET, picaridin, and permethrin.

16.4

LABORATORY TESTING

1. It seems that almost all test methods for the conventional mosquito repellents directly

applied to human skin such as DEET, picaridin, IR3535, natural essential oils, etc.,

are applicable to the test of textiles treated with those materials. Although pyrethroid

insecticides are not recommended for direct treatment to human skin because of der-

mal toxicity (Brown and Hebert, 1997), they are used as contact repellents by treat-

ing textiles such as clothing/uniforms, hammock, curtain, and bed nets. Evaluation of

excito-repellency, knockdown, and killing effects caused by pyrethroids, therefore,